Data Science Jobs in Canada: Job Market, Skills, and Salaries

Canada continues to be one of the hottest destinations for Masters (MS) in Data Science and Analytics. The immigration-friendly policies of Canada is also a big factor. In this post, we will look at the data science jobs in Canada – job market, top in-demand skills, top industry-sectors, and average salaries.

Data Science Jobs and Salaries in Canada

Co-authored by Parinita Gupta

Introduction: Data Science Jobs in Canada

When it comes to data science, the job market in Canada or any other country in the world has never been better. Entering the workforce as a data scientist in this day and age has only got fruitful benefits for you and there are a million reasons why.

The career field itself right now is very promising, in fact, one of the most promising career fields out there with a ton of opportunities, and the nature of the job itself is very flexible which allows the data scientists to work remotely and even independently, i.e., on a freelance basis.

Apart from a pretty glamorous work lifestyle, data scientists and data analytics experts usually have a high median salary, even at the entry levels.

It’s quite obvious that with the constant evolution of technology and it reaching new heights every day has a majority of the population in the world hooked up with an internet connection and this means that there’s a lot of unprocessed raw data on the internet, now more than ever.

This is exactly what defined the instant growth and demand for data scientists and analytics in the market. So much so that experts projected the growth of the demand for data scientists by 500% in recent years, which outweighs the supply for data scientists and this has led to companies paying high salaries to the data scientists. However, the data science career field has several other benefits apart from the ones mentioned above, and to list a few simply are:

  • Lots of room for career advancement
  • Satisfying work focused on and around the subject
  • A good mix between technical and interpersonal
  • Technical skills are easily feasible to many other career fields
  • Work from home flexibility
  • No mandatory qualification requirements
  • Learning data science is easily accessible
  • Extremely diverse roles

Why Should You Consider Data Science Jobs in Canada?

Simply stating, Canada is one the strongest economies in the world offering the highest standards of living, with work opportunities in the said field. With such a welcoming environment, newcomers in the field have an opportunity to thrive and simply go beyond. The country also has several other benefits, which to list below are:

  • High average salary than any other country.
  • Four-fold demand
  • High number of opportunities
  • A lot of room for expansion and exploration
  • Versatility

With such benefits, let’s know which technical skills are the most in demand within the industry so that you can stay on the top.

Additionally, Canada hosts some of the leading universities for Data Science and Business Analytics. So, after completing a degree, you can take advantage of the straightforward and immigration-friendly work permit policies in Canada. Read why international students prefer higher studies in Canada.

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Top In-Demand Skills for Data Science Jobs in Canada

These are a few skills that you must have in order to land yourself in a top tier data analytics job:

Programming:

It’s something that you cannot survive without in the field of data. Having programming skills is definitely necessary but having outstanding programming skills is a plus point for you. Be it any statistical programming language like Python, C++, Java, SQL, R, or anything. The more you know in this aspect, the better it is.

Statistics:

It goes without saying. Data analysis isn’t possible without being an expert at statistics and this is a skill that you can never compromise with if data analytics is the field you are considering for yourself. You have to have extensive knowledge in statistical tests, distributions, etc. and you simply can never learn enough of this.

Machine learning:

When you are working for large companies with humongous amounts of data or working on a product which itself is data-driven, you have to know machine learning and be an expert in it. All the machine learning methods count.

Data wrangling:

Data is often messy and difficult to work with, and in order for you to properly analyze data, you must know how to deal with imperfections in data. There are going to be several times when you going to face inconsistency in data, and some of them being so minor that it’ll be hard for you to notice and quite challenging. Hence, you need to be quite well skilled with data wrangling as no company wants a wrong data analysis.

Data Communication & Visualization:

Data communication and visualization are two incredibly important aspects of being in the field of data analysis. It’s mostly important because most of the company’s marketing decisions are data driven. Describing what you have discovered and observed through the data and visualizing the data with the help of data visualization tools like Tableau are some skills that are indispensable in the field of data science.

Software Engineering:

When it comes to handling a large amount of data in a small amount of time, software engineering skills come in very handy. This is why several companies look for and are willing to pay high for a data scientist or analyst who has a strong base in software engineering. This skill comes in more handy than you can imagine so perfecting it when planning to jump into this job market would definitely be a wise choice.

Its all these skills that will make you an indispensable candidate if you’re planning to be a data scientist or analyst.

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Top Recruiting Industries for Data Science Jobs in Canada

Now that we know about the job market and all the skills that you require, let’s explore which industry needs you the most. Here are the top industries where there’s a desperate need of a data scientist or analyst

  • Healthcare and pharmaceuticals
  • Internet industry
  • Marketing- Advertising
  • Automotive Industry
  • Telecommunications industry
  • Retail Industry
  • Banking and finance
  • Entertainment and Media
  • Education
  • Outsourcing industry
  • And lastly, the government

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Data Science Salaries in Canada

The field of data science is huge and this calls for a hierarchical system to be in place. There are several job roles within the industry that one can have and it goes without saying, that different roles have different Payscale. To list some:

  • Business Analyst – USD 78,574/year
  • Sr. Data Scientist – USD 120,000/year
  • Business Intelligence Analyst – USD 77638 /year
  • Data Architect – USD 81,000/year
  • Business Intelligence Developer – USD 81945 /year
  • Application Architect – USD 110,000/year
  • Data Engineer – USD 120,000/year
  • Machine Learning Engineer – USD 140,000/year
  • Data Scientist – USD 107,500/year
  • Machine learning scientist – USD 162,625/year
  • Data Analyst – USD 60,416/year 
  • Data Mining Engineer – USD 80,673/year

With such a wide scope and demand, it’s obvious that data scientists have taken up a ladder that only goes up!

Recommended Articles:

Raman Preet Singh’s Journey from IT Professional in India to Data Scientist in Canada

MS Business Analytics in Canada: Top Schools, In-Demand Skills, Jobs & Salaries

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Featured Image Source: Robert Half

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