What do professors make in Canada?

What does your professor make? Assuming he or she is a full (tenured) professor, it’s probably more than you guessed. The median pay among full professors at 31 Canadian schools is $128,480, according to a recent study.

That said, if your professor is at the University of Northern British Columbia, she likely makes a far less than if she’s with the University of British Columbia. A report by Culture, Tourism and the Centre for Education Studies shows that salaries in the 2009-10 school year followed no apparent pattern. Some highly-ranked schools pay less than not-so-prestigious schools. A few smaller schools --- Trent for example --- pay profs much better than bigger neighbours. The report presented data from 31 schools. That’s fewer than half of the 81 schools profiled in the Maclean’s Guide to Canadian Universities, meaning this list is far from comprehensive.

It’s worth reiterating that these figures are for full professors only. Assistant professors, associate professors and contract faculty make much less and many academics work for more than a decade before getting full status, if they ever do. Still, these numbers show that professorship is a lucrative career from coast to coast.

Trent - 158,876

Calgary - 154,008

British Columbia - 151,145

Alberta - 145,585

Athabasca - 144,689

McMaster - 144,366

Lethbridge - 144,255

York - 143,091

Wilfrid Laurier - 142,905

Windsor - 141,831

Ottawa - 141,417

Guelph - 139,934

Lakehead - 137,827

Manitoba - 137,765

Brock - 137,666

UOIT - 135,000

St. Mary’s - 129,603

Victoria - 128,122

UPEI - 126,903

Memorial - 126,623

Nipissing - 123,754

New Brunswick - 123,546

St. Thomas - 123,307

Brandon - 117,494

Acadia - 110,000

UNBC - 103,796

Cape Breton - 102,622

Mount Royal - 101,974

OCAD - 101,086

Kwantlen - 84,896

Trinity Western - 78,778