Read the numbers behind a company or a deal and tell people what they mean. A degree, then years of exams.
Click through it
Pay, the path, pros and cons and the facts on one printable page. Good for a wall or a guidance counsellor.
Or read the whole thing here
What you earn and what it costs to get there.
Typical
$90,000
Junior analyst
$59,000
Senior or manager
$151,000
Job Bank's national median is $43.27 an hour, about $90,000 a year full time. Toronto and Calgary, home to the big banks and energy companies, pay the most. Investment banking analysts earn far more than this range and work far longer hours.
$55,000 to $70,000
Junior analyst, first 2 years
Bank rotational programs and the Big Four accounting firms start near the bottom of this range. A bonus of 5 to 15% of salary is common even for juniors.
$120,000 to $150,000+
8 or more years in, often with a professional designation
With the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charter, portfolio management and investment banking roles can pass $200,000 once bonuses are counted.
Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel
The low end is a four year bachelor's degree at the cheaper end of Ontario tuition, with your employer paying the exam fees once you are hired, which is common. The high end is a pricier program, for example Toronto Metropolitan University at about eleven thousand nine hundred dollars for 2026 to 2027, plus funding the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) program yourself. The three CFA exams are billed in US dollars, roughly US$3,500 to US$4,600 in total, so budget around six thousand Canadian dollars with study materials. An MBA (Master of Business Administration) is not required and most analysts skip it, so it is not counted.
Many employers pay the exam fees once you are hired, and give you study days before each sitting.
Annual bonus
Standard at banks, investment firms and most corporate finance teams.
Pension
Defined-benefit plans in government and at some banks; matching contributions elsewhere.
Health and dental
Paid study leave
Days off before CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) exams are common at large employers.
The exact path from high school to qualified.
A business degree gets you in. Exams written while you work move you up.
High school
Grades 11 and 12
Math, accounting, business and economics. Grades matter because commerce programs are competitive.
Bachelor's degree
4 years
Commerce, finance, economics or accounting. Co-op programs at Waterloo, Laurier and Toronto Metropolitan University place you in banks before you graduate.
First job
1 to 2 years
Junior analyst, a bank rotational program, or an accounting role. Most people start in corporate finance or at a bank, not on a trading floor.
CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) program
3 to 4 years
Three exams, about 300 hours of study each, written while you work. The charter also needs 4,000 hours of investment-related work over at least 36 months.
Senior analyst or manager
After 5 to 8 years
Lead models and reports, present to executives, or move into portfolio management.
Advanced Functions and Calculus
Finance is applied math.
Accounting
You will read financial statements every day.
Economics or business
Shows interest and gets you comfortable with the vocabulary.
English
Your reports decide where millions of dollars go. They must be clear.
Anyone can be called a financial analyst. No province licenses the job itself. The CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charter is the credential employers ask for; it is run by the CFA Institute and recognized around the world. If you move into managing client money or selling investments, you must register with your provincial securities regulator, and that is a different path (see investment advisor). Some provinces license portfolio managers separately.
Ontario
Rotman Commerce (University of Toronto), Ivey (Western), Schulich (York), Laurier, Waterloo, Queen's.
Quebec
McGill, Concordia, Université de Montréal's business school.
BC and Alberta
Sauder at UBC (University of British Columbia), Beedie at SFU (Simon Fraser University), Haskayne at Calgary, University of Alberta.
Atlantic Canada
Dalhousie, Saint Mary's, University of New Brunswick.
Things you don't need, but that help.
CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charter
The big one for investments and research.
CPA (Chartered Professional Accountant)
Preferred for corporate finance, budgeting and controller roles.
FRM (Financial Risk Manager)
For risk teams at banks and insurers.
CBV (Chartered Business Valuator)
For valuing companies in deals and disputes.
Excel and financial modelling
Build a three-statement model before your first interview.
Python or SQL (structured query language)
Analysts who can pull and clean data stand out.
Co-op or a summer at a bank
Most full-time offers go to former co-op students.
Investment club or case competitions
Practice pitching a stock or a deal to a room.
Analysts at investment banks on Bay Street help companies raise money and buy other companies. Starting pay with bonus is often well above the whole range on the last cards, but weeks of 70 to 90 hours are normal and most analysts leave after 2 or 3 years for private equity, a company finance team, or a quieter life. Hiring is done almost entirely from co-op and summer internships.
Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.
Morning: update a model with yesterday's numbers, read market news, answer questions from a manager. Midday: build a forecast, check a budget against actual spending, or research a company. Afternoon: put it into a deck or a report and present it. Month-end and quarter-end mean late nights closing the books or finishing reports. Corporate finance is calmer; investment firms and banks run faster.
The good
The hard parts
Things people don't tell you.
Pass rates on a given level are often under 50%, and each level takes about 300 hours of study. Finishing all three usually takes 3 to 4 years. That is why the charter is worth so much.
The head offices of Canada's biggest banks sit within a few blocks of each other in downtown Toronto. A large share of the country's finance jobs are there, with Calgary second for energy finance and Montreal for pensions and funds.
Job Bank reports that about 97% of financial analysts in Canada receive at least one non-wage benefit, such as health coverage or a pension. Few occupations score that high.
Last checked September 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in Canadian dollars, based on Government of Canada Job Bank wage data and published salary grids. They vary by province, employer and experience. Tuition is for domestic students.