Actuary (with exams)
$70,000 – $150,000+
Exam-gated, salary-laddered, famously secure
Degree guide
what can i do with a math degree?
The degree employers quietly rank above almost everything — proof you can think in pure abstraction — attached to the vaguest job map in the catalogue. Here is the actual map.
Math is the strongest signal with the weakest signage
No employer posts 'mathematician wanted,' and yet math grads out-earn most of the faculty catalogue — through actuarial science, data science, quantitative finance, cryptography and analytics. The conversion cost is learning the applied toolkit (code, statistics-in-practice) that pure coursework skips. Add that, and this degree is a master key.
Jobs and salary context
Typical Canadian ranges from Job Bank medians, checked Oct 2026. Actual outcomes vary by role, location, experience, and employer.
Data scientist
$80,000 – $120,000
Math + code is the exact recipe
Quantitative analyst
$90,000 – $150,000+
Finance's math-heavy end, competitive
Statistician
$70,000 – $100,000
Government, pharma trials, research
Cryptography / security engineer
$85,000 – $130,000
Number theory grew a salary
Teacher (with B.Ed)
$55,000 – $105,000
Math teachers are the most recruited teachable, everywhere
FAQ
What does an actuary actually do?
Prices risk for insurers and pension plans using probability — then passes a multi-year exam series that raises pay at every gate. It is often cited as one of the best jobs for the stress-to-salary ratio, and math majors are its native population.
Math or computer science?
CS is the more direct employment line; math is the deeper signal that keeps more doors open (quant finance and actuarial rarely take pure CS). The strong play is math major with serious programming coursework — employers read that as both.
Is a math degree too theoretical for jobs?
The theory is exactly what is scarce — anyone can run a model; few can tell when it is wrong. Add Python, SQL and one statistics-in-practice course, and 'too theoretical' becomes the highest-cleared bar in the room.