NOC 2021 · 21211 · TEER 1
Data scientists
Unit group 21211 of the National Occupational Classification, 2021 Version 1.0.
Check which category draws this code qualifies for
What this group covers
Data scientists use advanced analytics technologies, including machine learning and predictive modelling, to support the identification of trends, scrape information from unstructured data sources and provide automated recommendations. They are employed by consulting firms, universities, banks and information technology departments in the public and private sectors.
Example job titles
As Statistics Canada publishes them. Yours may be worded differently and still belong here.
- artificial intelligence (AI) analyst
- artificial intelligence (AI) consultant
- artificial intelligence (AI) designer
- artificial intelligence analyst
- artificial intelligence consultant
- big data analyst
- big data developer
- big data engineer
- data analytics consultant
- data analytics specialist
- data architect
- data engineer
- data miner
- data mining analyst
- data modeler
- data scientist
- lead data scientist
- machine learning engineer
- machine learning specialist
- quantitative analyst
What it pays, and where it is hiring
Job Bank publishes a wage estimate and a three-year employment outlook for each occupation, region by region. Both are below as published — where an estimate is missing from the source it is missing here too, because the alternative is inventing one.
Across Canada
$46.15 an hour
Low $30.00, high $69.74
Where it pays most
- Windsor--Sarnia · Ontario$49.84
- London · Ontario$49.14
- Ottawa · Ontario$48.21
- Lower Mainland · British Columbia$48.08
- Kingston--Pembroke · Ontario$48.00
Economic regions only. A province’s figure is an average over the regions inside it, so including one would rank a province above its own best region and read as a finding.
By province and territory
| Where | Median hourly | Low to high | Outlook 2025–2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newfoundland and Labrador | $41.76 | $20.00 – $66.67 | Undetermined |
| Prince Edward Island | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Nova Scotia | $44.06 | $24.09 – $65.75 | Moderate |
| New Brunswick | $39.32 | $20.80 – $82.42 | Moderate |
| Quebec | $46.00 | $31.73 – $64.84 | Limited |
| Ontario | $47.69 | $31.25 – $71.79 | Limited |
| Manitoba | $45.00 | $29.09 – $60.10 | Undetermined |
| Saskatchewan | $42.05 | $32.69 – $57.69 | Moderate |
| Alberta | $43.27 | $28.00 – $57.69 | Moderate |
| British Columbia | $48.08 | $32.45 – $88.94 | Moderate |
| Yukon Territory | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Northwest Territories | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
| Nunavut | Not published | Not published | Undetermined |
By economic region
The 28 economic regions where Job Bank publishes a wage or a rated outlook, of 72.
| Where | Province | Median hourly | Low to high | Outlook 2025–2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halifax | Nova Scotia | $44.06 | $24.09 – $65.75 | Moderate |
| Moncton--Richibucto | New Brunswick | $41.99 | $27.75 – $63.34 | Moderate |
| Saint John--St. Stephen | New Brunswick | Not published | Not published | Moderate |
| Fredericton--Oromocto | New Brunswick | $43.00 | $26.55 – $66.16 | Moderate |
| Capitale-Nationale | Quebec | $47.50 | $37.91 – $52.31 | Limited |
| Chaudière-Appalaches | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Estrie | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Montérégie | Quebec | $46.00 | $31.73 – $64.84 | Moderate |
| Montréal | Quebec | $45.64 | $31.73 – $96.00 | Limited |
| Laval | Quebec | $45.45 | $36.54 – $109.00 | Limited |
| Lanaudière | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Good |
| Laurentides | Quebec | $45.43 | $33.32 – $67.00 | Moderate |
| Outaouais | Quebec | $43.59 | $28.85 – $56.41 | Limited |
| Saguenay--Lac-Saint-Jean | Quebec | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Ottawa | Ontario | $48.21 | $30.00 – $69.74 | Limited |
| Kingston--Pembroke | Ontario | $48.00 | $34.87 – $55.00 | Limited |
| Toronto | Ontario | $46.33 | $32.00 – $71.79 | Very limited |
| Kitchener--Waterloo--Barrie | Ontario | $44.62 | $24.73 – $65.38 | Limited |
| Hamilton--Niagara Peninsula | Ontario | $47.69 | $31.25 – $71.79 | Limited |
| London | Ontario | $49.14 | $26.58 – $65.22 | Limited |
| Windsor--Sarnia | Ontario | $49.84 | $32.82 – $74.44 | Very limited |
| Winnipeg | Manitoba | $45.00 | $29.09 – $60.10 | Undetermined |
| Regina--Moose Mountain | Saskatchewan | $42.05 | $32.69 – $57.69 | Moderate |
| Saskatoon--Biggar | Saskatchewan | Not published | Not published | Limited |
| Calgary | Alberta | $46.29 | $31.55 – $72.05 | Moderate |
| Edmonton | Alberta | $43.27 | $28.00 – $57.69 | Moderate |
| Vancouver Island and Coast | British Columbia | Not published | Not published | Good |
| Lower Mainland | British Columbia | $48.08 | $32.45 – $88.94 | Moderate |
Job Bank rates employment prospects for each occupation in each economic region from very good to very limited over 2025–2027, and says “undetermined” where it has not got enough to rate. It is an assessment of prospects, not a count of vacancies.
The estimates on this page come from Labour Force Survey (2023-2024) · Employment Insurance Survey Data (2023-2024) · Small Area Estimation (2024).
Job Bank publishes an estimate for 24,364 of the 44,376 occupation-and-place pairs in this release. The rest are suppressed rather than modelled, and appear here as not published.
Wage estimates from the 2025 Wages release, revised 19 November 2025; employment outlooks from 2025-2027 Employment Outlooks - NOC 2021, released 8 December 2025. Both are updated annually. Estimates for different regions come from different surveys, so comparing two regions is exactly as sound as Job Bank’s own regional comparison and no more.
Source: Statistics Canada — National Occupational Classification 2021 V1.0; Employment and Social Development Canada — Job Bank wages; Employment and Social Development Canada — Job Bank 3-year employment outlooks. Data current as of 13 August 2026. NOC 2021 Version 1.0. The classification is versioned rather than dated — IRCC moved to it in November 2022, and a new version would be a new classification rather than an update.