At the beginning of this year, US News & World Report released its list of the 100 Best Jobs for 2015. These best jobs are ranked based on several criteria:

  • 10-Year Growth Volume (10 per cent)
  • 10-Year Growth Percentage (10 per cent)
  • Median Salary (30 per cent)
  • Job Prospects (20 per cent)
  • Employment Rate (20 per cent)
  • Stress Level (5 per cent)
  • Work-Life Balance (5 per cent)

So, they’re hiring, they are reasonably enjoyable, and many of them pay reasonably well.

A hundred jobs is a lot of jobs, though, so thankfully they also narrowed things down with a separate list of the highest paying jobs – for those of us who are really just curious about who’s making the most money.

According to US News & World Report, they are the “15 highest-paying occupations from our Best Jobs list, and they’re also jobs expected to hire abundantly this decade.” I pulled ten from the list and used Canadian salaries (rounded up or down), using jobbank.gc.ca and Payscale.

Note that the average salaries as listed on US News & World Report for almost all of these jobs is significantly higher in the U.S. than in Canada, so I removed the jobs in the top ten that don’t appear to qualify here, which were Art Director and Software Developer.

Hiring projections for certain professions will be slightly different in Canada than the US, but the market is often comparable.

1. Physician

Med school is a big investment but it pays off. There will be demand for physicians in Canada.

Median salary: $125,000
High salary: $294,000

2. Dentist

Sure, you have to spend your days poking around people’s mouths and trying to decipher what they’re trying to say with your fingers in there. But the outlook is great.

Median salary: $120,000
High salary: $263,000

3. Marketing Manager

Developing marketing strategies is lucrative work, but hiring outlook for Canada is only fair.

Median salary: $79,000
High salary: $130,000

4. IT Manager

The person in charge of making sure the computer systems run smoothly is one of the most important people at any organization. Hiring outlook here is fair to good in Canada.

Median salary: $78,000
High salary $104,000

5. Lawyer

Areas of law practice with strong demand, according to a survey by Robert Half, are corporate law, litigation, intellectual property, and labour and employment matters.

Median salary: $108,000
High salary: $299,000

6. Financial Manager

Managing the company money is a big responsibility. For that, they make the list. Hiring projections are unknown in a lot of the country according to Job Bank.

Median salary: $83,000
High salary: $131,000

7. Sales Manager

Hiring projections for “regional sales manager” – there was no “sale manager” category – are only fair, according to Job Bank. But the pay is still good.

Median salary: $71,000
High salary: $100,000

8. Pharmacist
Pharmacists continue to see big demand and big salaries. A promising career choice.

Median salary: $97,000
High salary: $141,000

9. Business Operations Manager

Someone has to be in charge of operations, right? I couldn’t get the outlook for this one since it doesn’t exist on Job Bank. Sorry.

Median salary: $70,000
High salary: $108,000

10. Veterinarian

This job requires a big, strong heart (figuratively) but if you’ve got one, there will be demand for people to look after the animals of Canada.

Median salary: $81,640
High salary: $147,954