toronto data scientist

Brandcamp Digital is a full-service agency that helps grow its clients through branding, content creation, advertising, and more. Their writer Hannah Macready is here to tell you about data scientist salaries in Toronto.

Looking to kickstart your data science career, but unsure what the future might hold? You can rest easy in the knowledge that learning data science skills has the potential to radically transform your career by opening up new opportunities for success.

That being said, as with any field, finding the right job can be a difficult endeavour. Knowing what your prospects are well in advance is recommended. The more you know about what kinds of salaries, job opportunities, and career trajectories are associated with the data science field, the better qualified you’ll be to break into a successful career.

But before you start to approach a career in data science, you’ll need to get educated. Knowing everything about salaries and prospects will only take you so far if you don’t know your way around a dataset! To make sure your skills mesh with the kind of career you’re looking into, consider enrolling in a data science bootcamp for immersive, accelerated education, or a part-time data analytics course to give your knowledge an upgrade.

This guide will walk you through the range of salaries you can expect when pursuing a data science career in Toronto.

Let’s get started.


Data Scientist Salaries in Toronto

According to Glassdoor data scientists in Toronto net an average base salary of $87,000 a year. This doesn’t take into account experience and circumstance, so there can be quite a bit of variation! A data scientist will net different kinds of salaries based on how senior they are in their field, and what kind of skills they have.

There are essentially three levels of seniority in the data science field: - Entry-level or junior data scientists - Intermediate data scientists - Senior data scientists

Each of these levels will offer a different salary range, depending on relevant experience and education.

We’ll break these down below, and discuss what kind of skills a data scientist of each level will be expected to have.

Entry-level/junior data scientist salary

According to Payscale, an entry-level data scientist in Toronto can expect to make an average of $76,437 a year.

Entry-level data scientists will have a basic understanding of:

  • SQL theory, such as types of joins, unions, where clause, and having clause
  • Machine learning algorithms, such as linear regression, logistic regression, or decision trees
  • Programming languages such as Python
  • Types of numbers, data, measures of spread of data, types of distribution, and probability theory

Data scientists at the junior level will have 2 years or less experience, alongside any notable educational achievements.

Intermediate data scientist salary

As you gain experience, your value increases alongside it. According to Payscale, data scientists with an intermediate level of experience can expect to make an average salary of $97,755.

At this level, skills can vary according to the specifics of a person’s industry and workflow. That being said, most intermediate data scientists show:

  • Familiarity with cloud computing systems, like GCP, AWS, Azure
  • Business acumen, like the ability to work well with key stakeholders, and strong communication skills
  • A strong grasp of data visualization tactics
  • Expertise with programming languages like SQL and Python
  • Project management experience

Data scientists at this stage will have 3+ years of experience, and a strong portfolio of professional work.

Senior data scientist salary

When you’re sitting at the top of your field, you should expect to have your expertise and seniority valued. According to Payscale, Toronto’s senior-level data scientists make $110,000 a year on average. That can get you almost 2 whole Bitcoins!

Skills on this level depend highly on an individual’s unique industry and experience. At this stage, executive-level positions are common. Senior data scientists possess the skills to:

  • Work with stakeholders to drive business decisions
  • Mine and analyze data from company databases
  • Develop custom data models and algorithms to apply to data sets
  • Use predictive modeling to increase and optimize customer experiences and generate revenue
  • Be adept at Jupyter/Python and PL/SQ

Data scientists at this stage will have 5+ years of experience, and an outstanding business portfolio.

Is Data Science in Demand in Toronto?

data scientist in Toronto coding

According to Canada’s Information and Communications Technology Council, data scientists are among the 15 digital jobs most in demand between 2018 and 2023.

Similarly, the Dice 2020 Tech Job Report reports that data engineering positions have a 50% growth rate year-over-year in the number of open positions.

In Toronto specifically, the tech scene is booming. More and more companies are on the lookout for fresh data talent. As local startups continue to grow and more legacy companies set their stakes in Toronto, this demand will only increase.

Larger companies are increasingly willing to pay premiums for top talent in the data scientist field. Canadian companies such as RBC, Rogers Communications, and Loblaw offer salaries of $90,000+ for data scientists in entry-level positions.

Is Data Science a Good Career in Toronto?

A quick search on Indeed on any given day will show you upwards of 200 data scientists jobs in Toronto. As Canada’s tech industry evolves, so too will the need for incoming talent.

When you consider the high entry-level salary, the large job pool, and the ongoing innovation and development of technology in Canada, investing in a data science career is lucrative in the long term.

Interested in a career in tech? Join our career-accelerator for tips on job-seeking and reaching your career goals.

What is a Good Data Science Salary in Toronto?

According to Indeed, the average salary of a data scientist in Toronto is $92,304 a year.

Making slightly above or below this average, the range of $80,000-$100,000 would be considered a good salary for a data scientist in Toronto.

If you’re wondering what career path you should follow, check out this simple guide on data analyst vs data scientists.

Ready to kickstart your career in data science? Download our Data Science Bootcamp curriculum package for a more detailed look at our student experience.