And if you think the classically lucrative fields like law and medicine are at the ceiling when it comes to high-paying professions in Canada, you're in for a surprise.
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To get the clearest picture possible, we narrowed the data down to full-time employees aged 25 to 54 — also known as "core-aged" workers. That helps cut out industries with tons of part-time or student-heavy roles, which can really drag down the numbers and skew the rankings.
We also focused on median weekly wages (rather than average or hourly), because it gives the best picture of what a typical worker in that industry is actually bringing home on a regular basis.
It's worth noting this ranking is by industry — not by individual job titles. So while some roles might pay more or less within a field, these numbers give a solid snapshot of what full-time workers in each sector are typically earning right now.
So whether you're job hunting, thinking about a career change or just curious how your own salary stacks up, here's how the highest-paying job fields in Canada are shaping up as we kick off 2026 — ranked from lowest to highest median weekly wage.
Accommodation & food services
Median weekly wage: $812.50 (equivalent to $42,250 per year)
Restaurants, bars, hotels and fast food joints all fall under this umbrella — and even after removing part-time workers and students from the data, this is still Canada's lowest-paying job sector by a mile.
The typical full-time worker here takes home more than $200 less per week than someone in just the next-lowest field. Interestingly though, it's one of only two industries where women actually out-earn men (albeit just barely).
Agriculture
Median weekly wage: $1,017.90 (equivalent to $52,931 per year)
Farmers, fishers, greenhouse workers and ranch hands are all part of this group, and it's also worth mentioning that this data isn't seasonally adjusted — and this is a sector where total pay can fluctuate a lot throughout the year.
It saw the steepest drop in pay of any industry over the past year, with median weekly wages falling by an eye-watering 7.8% from the same time last year. There's also a wide gap between the top and bottom earners, making this a field with big income swings depending on the specific job.
Business support services
Median weekly wage: $1,040.00 (equivalent to $54,080 per year)
Officially called "business, building and other support services" by StatCan, this industry covers a vast range of services that support the operations of other businesses — like management and holding companies, staffing agencies, HR services, call centres, cleaning services, security firms and more.
The pay here isn't especially high, but it's one of the few fields where wages grew significantly last year — up 5.1%, well above inflation. Still, the gap between average and median wages is one of the largest in Canada, suggesting a big divide between top and bottom earners.
Sales
Median weekly wage: $1,096.00 (equivalent to $56,992 per year)
Officially categorized s "wholesale and retail trade" in the dataset, this sector includes both bulk wholesalers and retail storefronts, covering everything from cashiers to auto parts reps.
It has the biggest gap between average and median pay of any industry, highlighting the huge divide between, say, Galen Weston Jr. and a Loblaws grocery clerk. Despite that, wage growth here has been solid — up 5.4% over the past year.
Health care & social assistance
Median weekly wage: $1,233.75 (equivalent to $64,155 per year)
While this field includes high-paying roles like radiologists and surgeons, it also encompasses roles like personal support workers, early childhood educators and community workers — which keeps the median earnings more modest than you might expect from a field like medicine.
Pay rose a healthy 3.7% over the past year, but gender disparities remain, with women earning about just under 90% of what men do, on average.
Other services
Median weekly wage: $1,250.00 (equivalent to $65,000 per year)
This catch-all category covers the services not already included in other sectors on this list — things like repair shops, pet grooming, dry cleaning, religious organizations, non-profits and more.
Wages climbed 7.1% in the past year — one of the biggest jumps on the list — but it also has one of the widest gender pay gaps, with women making less than 80% of what men earn on average.
Transportation & warehousing
Median weekly wage: $1,306.00 (equivalent to $67,912 per year)
This industry covers everything to do with transporting and storing both goods and people — like air travel, trucking, public transit, rail, shipping, courier services and warehousing. Truckers, pilots, warehouse workers, delivery drivers and transit staff are all included.
It's one of just three industries where wages actually dropped over the past year, falling 1.1% from December 2024. It's a traditionally male-dominated industry, and the numbers show it — the average woman in this field earns about 82.4% of men's wages.
Manufacturing
Median weekly wage: $1,346.00 (equivalent to $69,992 per year)
From auto plants to food processing to pharmaceutical production, manufacturing saw the highest wage growth of any sector in Canada last year — a surprising turn of events amid all the tariff turmoil that marked 2025.
Weekly earnings jumped by 7.7% year-over-year, giving the median worker an extra $96 per week compared to December 2024. Even still, men earn over $200 more each week on average than women in this field.
Information, culture & recreation
Median weekly wage: $1,466.80 (equivalent to $76,274 per year)
This category covers everything from media and broadcasting to museums and recreation and even professional sports, arts and entertainment.
Wages slipped slightly over the past year, down 0.9%. That said, it's still slightly above the national average, and the gender pay gap is one of the smallest in Canada, with women earning 98.1% of what men do on average.
Finance, insurance, real estate & leasing
Median weekly wage: $1,538.63 (equivalent to $80,009 per year)
This high-paying sector includes banks, insurance firms, mortgage brokers, real estate agencies and even car rental companies.
Despite solid weekly earnings, wage growth was sluggish last year — up just 1.3%, which is below inflation. A relatively high hourly wage compared to weekly earnings also suggests fewer hours worked on average in this field.
Construction
Median weekly wage: $1,584.80 (equivalent to $82,410 per year)
Builders, tradespeople, and contractors dominate this male-heavy industry, and it shows. Construction has the largest gender pay gap of any field in Canada, with women making on average just 79.3% of what men earn — a whopping $330 less per week, to be exact.
On the bright side, it has one of the smallest gaps between median and average wages, meaning pay is fairly consistent between the top and bottom ends of the ladder.
Education
Median weekly wage: $1,600.00 (equivalent to $83,200 per year)
Teachers, professors and trainers — at both private and public schools — make up this field, which is one of the most stable and evenly paid sectors in the country.
There's minimal wage disparity, and comparing the hourly rate to weekly earnings suggests workers in this field are putting in fewer hours, averaging around 37 per week, the lowest of any industry.
Professional, scientific & technical services
Median weekly wage: $1,743.75 (equivalent to $90,675 per year)
Lawyers, engineers, accountants, consultants, designers, researchers and IT professionals all fall into this broad, high-skill category.
But it's got one of the biggest gender pay gaps among high earners — women make just 80% of what men do. Wages barely moved in 2025, rising just 0.7%, which is well below the inflation rate.
Public administration
Median weekly wage: $1,750.00 (equivalent to $91,000 per year)
Employees of all levels of government — federal, provincial and municipal — are grouped here, from lawmakers and policy analysts to police officers and park rangers. With notoriously stable jobs, decent benefits and consistent pay across the board, this field continues to be one of the best-paid in the country.
Wages rose a healthy 3.4% over the last year, and the difference between average and median pay is minimal, suggesting less variance between the highest and lowest earners. That said, women still earn only 85.7% of what men do on average here.
Utilities
Median weekly wage: $2,115.40 (equivalent to $110,001 per year)
This high-paying sector includes electricity, water, waste and natural gas services, both public and private.
Despite falling at #2 overall, it's actually the #1 top-paying field for women in Canada — their median income here is over $112K per year, and women even slightly out-earn men on average. It also has the smallest discrepancy between average and median weekly wages, so pay really is just about as equal as it gets in this sector.
It also has the highest hourly wage in the country ($55.38), suggesting the hours are shorter in this industry than in the top-paying one overall. Wages rose by a generous 5.8% over the past year too, solidifying this field as a stable and lucrative field to jump into.
Natural resources
Median weekly wage: $2,220.40 (equivalent to $115,461 per year)
Officially dubbed "forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas," this category includes everything from logging operations and offshore rigs to mines, quarries and oil sands work.
The work is physically demanding and often far-flung, and it also has the longest workweeks at about 44 hours on average — so it's fitting that it also comes with the highest average weekly pay in the country.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the field isn't nearly as prosperous for women. They earn only 80% of what men do here — over $450 less per week on average. In fact, median pay for women in this industry doesn't even crack six figures annually.
Wages rose by a modest 3.1% over the past year, narrowly beating inflation.
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