CANADA’S 10 BEST JOBS IN 2015

CANADA’S 10 BEST JOBS IN 2015

Source: www.canadianbusiness.com

Each year Canadian Business compiles our ranking of Canada’s Best Jobs—the occupations showing the highest growth and fattest paycheques. Using public data from Statistics Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada, we score each field on how fast salaries are rising and how much hiring momentum it has.

1. MINING & FORESTRY MANAGER

Median Salary: $108,804.80

Change in Salary (2008–2014): +25%

Total Employees: 10,700

Change in Employees (2008–2014): +37%

This class of managers in natural resources—also known as primary production managers—make Canada’s resource economy run. They lead production facilities like oil wells, mines and fisheries, and are responsible for a wide variety of duties, from ensuring production targets are met to quality control to health and safety. Tasked with operating extremely complicated equipment and leading dozens, if not hundreds, of front-line resource workers, this job requires deep technical knowledge along with the soft skills necessary to manage people in what can be unforgiving or even dangerous locales.

2. OIL & GAS DRILLING SUPERVISOR

Median Salary: $79,040.00

Change in Salary (2008–2014): +23%

Total Employees: 18,700

Change in Employees (2008–2014): +30%

Rig supervisors are responsible for overseeing 10 to 20 people on several crews, who operate oil or gas drilling rigs around the clock. Though Statistics Canada’s figures show how robust the industry had been through 2014, the precipitous drop in oil prices near the end of last has changed the picture drastically for 2015: The Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors recently sharply revised down its job projections, but in the longer term this is still a key part of Canada’s economy and the pendulum will swing back.

3. AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER

Median Salary: $87,360.00

Change in Salary (2008–2014): +26%

Total Employees: 5,100

Change in Employees (2008–2014): +28%

After years of growing salaries but little growth in the number of total jobs, this is the first year that the number of Air Traffic Controllers has been high enough (more than 5,000 total) to make our main Best Jobs ranking. Having topped our Niche Jobs Ranking in prior years, it makes a strong entrance in this year’s ranking at #3. It can be a pressure-cooker of a job, but if you’ve got the nerves for it you can be well-compensated, with average salaries of $87,000, with paycheques gaining altitude in bigger markets with busier airports.

4. STATISTICIAN & ACTUARY

Median Salary: $89,606.40

Change in Salary (2008–2014): +38%

Total Employees: 12,000

Change in Employees (2008–2014): +48%

The explosion of data produced by the digital economy has led to a surging need for specialists able to pull business insights out of terabyte-sized databases. If you have a head for numbers, this quickly developing field likely has a use for your talents. Though traditional fields like finance and insurance are still destinations, data scientists are finding their skills in demand in communications, retail, natural resources, and many more fields besides.

5. ENGINEERING MANAGER

Median Salary: $94,993.60

Change in Salary (2008–2014): +11%

Total Employees: 24,600

Change in Employees (2008–2014): +15%

One of several groups of specialized managers in our ranking, Engineering Managers are responsible for supervising engineering firms, R&D departments, or engineering teams within industrial fields. The combination of technical know-how and leadership skills is a highly transferable one; engineering managers can find work in a wide variety of fields—including ones beyond engineering.

6. PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION OFFICER

Median Salary: $99,195.20

Change in Salary (2008–2014): +21%

Total Employees: 18,500

Change in Employees (2008–2014): +16%

This category covers a wide range of jobs, although they occupy a very specific strata in the public sector: these are the senior administrators that sit between elected politicians and the front lines of the civil service. They supervise elections, maintain relations between the different levels of government and make sure legislatures are functioning properly. This category covers everyone from the director of Elections Canada to provincial public works directors. These positions are public sector and governments at all levels are facing budget pressures, but even so average salaries are close to $100,000 and some go considerably higher. Be prepared to find your name on the Sunshine List.

7. POWER SYSTEMS OPERATOR

Median Salary: $84,198.40

Change in Salary (2008–2014): +20%

Total Employees: 8,400

Change in Employees (2008–2014): -5%

Want to be in charge of keeping the juice flowing? This group of specialized technicians and operators run and monitor power stations for utilities and large industrial installations. This is a sector with a very specialized skill set, and a relatively small pool of potential employers, so there aren’t necessarily a lot of places to jump in search of a promotion. After experiencing a shrinking workforce for several years, projections look more robust through 2022, with 1.27 predicted jobs for every worker.

8. HEALTH & COMMUNITY SERVICES MANAGER

Median Salary: $100,006.40

Change in Salary(2008–2014): +37%

Total Employees: 6,200

Change in Employees (2008–2014): +5%

This category, defined by Employment and Social Development Canada as covering health, education, social and community services, can include high-level leadership in fields from parks and rec to employment support to public health. With only 6,200 positions at this level, it requires a high degree of seniority and responsibility. Though the average salary, measured nationally, just crested $100,000 for the first time in 2014, salaries will vary by location and field. Since these are largely public sector jobs at the provincial or municipal level, the characteristics of the local tax base has an effect, so look to larger urban centres for more responsibility and higher salaries

9. MAPPING TECHNOLOGIST

Median Salary: $68,640.00

Change in Salary (2008–2014): +25%

Total Employees: 7,200

Change in Employees (2008–2014): +20%

The explosion of big data and the growing need for location-aware hardware and software has led to a boom in the field of mapping. In Canada especially, there is a strong need for geospatial analysts in the natural resources sector; those autonomous cars we all hope to be driven around in a few years from now need to know where they're going, and this class of technology workers will pave the way.

10. SENIOR BUSINESS MANAGER

Median Salary: $97,136.00

Change in Salary (2008–2014): +11%

Total Employees: 27,600

Change in Employees (2008–2014): -16%

This is corner-office country—the vice-presidents, executive directors, and C-suite executives who occupy the top levels of private-sector management in fields like finance, telecom, engineering and high-tech. Though the median salary for this group is around $97,000, there is significant headroom depending on the size of the company you work for. The bigger the company, the larger the paycheque you can command—and that doesn't count other compensation such as stock or performance bonuses, common at the higher end of the leadership ladder.