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Technology · Analyzing & Problem-solving

Data analyst: what the job actually is

Pulling records out of databases, checking them, and turning them into a report somebody can make a decision from.

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Data analyst: quick facts

Data analyst salary in Ontario: the median pay is $40.87 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024). Its three-year outlook in Ontario is moderate. The job usually needs a university degree.

Median pay in Ontario
$40.87 an hour
Pay range (low to high)
$24.58 to $61.54 an hour
Job outlook, 2025-2027
Moderate
People working in it in Ontario
25,550
Usually needs
Usually a university degree

Source: Job Bank wages (updated 19 November 2025) and job prospects (updated 10 December 2025), NOC 21223. Pay varies by region and experience.

The work

What this job actually is

  • Finding, checking and summarising an organisation's records so the people who run it can see what is actually happening. Sales, patients, deliveries, school attendance: the data differs, the work is similar.
  • Job Bank does not have a group called data analyst. The closest is Database analysts and data administrators, and its Ontario requirements page lists the job title as information resource analyst. The pay, outlook and workforce figures on this page belong to that whole group, not to every analyst job with that name.
  • Most days are spent in spreadsheets, database queries and reporting tools, plus conversations about what the numbers should mean. The chart is the last ten per cent of the work.
  • It overlaps with data scientist, and the line is blurry. A data scientist leans toward statistics and predictive models; an analyst leans toward answering a known question reliably and repeatedly. Employers use the titles loosely, so read the job posting, not the title.
  • You are often the person who notices that two reports disagree and has to find out which one is wrong.

A Tuesday

What a normal day looks like

Not a good day or a bad one. The ordinary version, which is what you would actually be living.

  1. 8:45 — Check that the overnight data load ran. It did, but one table is empty.
  2. 9:15 — Message the person who owns that table. Wait. Start on something else.
  3. 10:00 — Write a query to answer a manager's question. Then discover the question has three possible meanings and ask which one they meant.
  4. 11:15 — Clean the result: duplicate customers, dates stored as text, a region spelled four ways.
  5. 12:15 — Lunch, and a message that last month's report has a number nobody can reproduce.
  6. 13:00 — Trace the number back through the spreadsheet. A formula was copied one row too far.
  7. 14:15 — Fix it, then work out who has been using the wrong figure and tell them.
  8. 15:15 — Build the weekly dashboard refresh, check it against last week, and look for anything that moved too much.
  9. 16:15 — Write two plain sentences under the chart saying what it shows and what it does not.
  10. 17:00 — Save the query with a name somebody else could understand in six months.

Honestly

Who loves this, and who should not do it

The second list is the useful one. Nearly every careers page leaves it out, which is why nearly every careers page reads like an advert.

You may like this if
  • You like finding the error in a column of numbers that looks right at first glance.
  • You are patient with tidying and checking, because you know a wrong number spreads fast.
  • You enjoy answering a specific question well more than inventing a new one.
  • You can explain a result in plain words to someone who only wants the answer.
  • You want a way into technology that does not depend on building software.
You may hate this if
  • You want to build the clever model. Most analyst work is reporting, checking and re-running the same queries.
  • You dislike being asked the same question every month with a slightly different filter.
  • You get frustrated by vague requests. People often ask for a report without knowing what they need it for.
  • You do not like being blamed when the data is wrong. You are often the one who finds out, and the one who has to say so.
  • You want a job title that means one thing. The same work is called analyst, business analyst, reporting analyst and more, and employers use them differently.

The route in

How you actually get there in Ontario

  1. Know what Job Bank says

    Job Bank rates the 2025-2027 Ontario outlook for database analysts and data administrators as Moderate. It says employment is expected to remain relatively stable, with a moderate number of positions opening through retirements. It names digitization across industries and the importance of data analysis for decisions as supports for employment, and adds that job growth may be affected by recent restructuring in the technology sector.

  2. Get a degree or college programme with data in it

    Job Bank's Ontario requirements page says a bachelor's degree or college program, usually in computer science, computer engineering or mathematics, is usually required, along with computer programming and related experience. See /careers/degrees/computer-science for what Ontario graduates in that field go on to, and ask about co-op, which is how most people get the related experience.

  3. No licence, so show your work

    Job Bank says this occupation is not regulated in Canada. Nobody checks a certificate before you start. A short portfolio matters more: a real question, a data set you found, how you cleaned it, a chart that makes the point and a sentence on what it cannot tell you.

  4. Learn the tools every employer asks about

    Spreadsheets and SQL (the language used to ask databases questions) come up in almost every posting. You can learn both free, at home, tonight. Read two or three real postings in your area and note what they list rather than guessing.

Where this comes from: Job Bank — Requirements for database analysts and data administrators in Ontario

The money

Data analyst salary in Ontario

Job Bank's own figures, quoted rather than summarised, with the period they describe — so you can tell how old they are and go and check them.

$24.58
Low (hourly)
$40.87
Median (hourly)
$61.54
High (hourly)

Ontario, NOC 21223. Reference period 2023-2024, last updated by Job Bank on 19 November 2025. Wages vary a lot by region inside Ontario and by how long you have been doing it — the low figure is roughly where you start, not what the job is worth.

Source: Job Bank — Data analyst wages in Ontario

Where it is heading

The outlook for the next three years

Job Bank publishes a three-year outlook for every job in every province. It is the closest thing to an honest forecast, and it moves, so read it as a weather report rather than a verdict.

Ontario, 2025-2027

Moderate3 out of 5 stars

  • Employment is expected to remain relatively stable.
  • A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.

What that rating means: how many openings Job Bank expects in Ontario for this kind of work against how many people are likely to be looking — not whether it is a good job. A “limited” rating means more competition for each opening; it does not close the door, and it can change before you are ready to walk through it.

What is changing in this work

  • Digitization across all industries
  • The importance of data analysis for evidence-based decision-making will also support employment opportunities
  • However, the pace of job growth may be affected by recent restructuring in the technology sector

Who hires for it

  • Various industries, with the leading share employed in professional, scientific and technical services, mainly computer systems design and related services
  • Public administration, largely federal government departments
  • Finance and insurance companies, particularly banks
25,550
people work in this job in Ontario
41%
are women (48% across all jobs)
7%
are self-employed (15% across all jobs)

Source: Job Bank — Database analysts and data administrators job prospects in Ontario (NOC 21223). Outlook updated by Job Bank on 10 December 2025; read by us on 5 October 2026.

Before you leave school

Things you can do now

  • Take the strongest maths you can handle and computer science if it is offered. Statistics or data management helps if your school has it.
  • Learn spreadsheets properly: filters, pivot tables, lookups, and a chart that does not mislead. Free and doable this week.
  • Pick a data set you care about, such as a sport, a game or your school's schedule, and answer one real question with it from start to finish.
  • Ask your guidance office about co-op placements in an office that handles records or reporting.

Test it

Do this before you decide anything

Reading about a job tells you almost nothing. This is designed to be done alone, this week, for free.

Answer one question from a public data set

About 90 minutes
  1. Find a free public data set on something you are curious about, such as a city open-data portal or a sports statistics site, and write down one question it could answer.
  2. Put it in a spreadsheet and look for problems before you analyse anything: blank cells, duplicates, a column that means two things. Write down each one you find.
  3. Fix what you can, answer the question with one table or chart, and write one sentence on what the data cannot tell you.
  4. Show it to someone and ask them to say in their own words what it shows. If they get it wrong, the chart was the problem, not them.

What it tells you. If you enjoyed the hunt for problems in the data more than the finished chart, analyst work will probably suit you. If you only wanted the chart and found the checking dull, notice that checking is most of the job. If you loved inventing the question, a data scientist or research route may fit better.

Better than any article

Questions for somebody who does this job

Most people say yes to a teenager who asks good questions. These are the ones that get real answers rather than encouragement.

  1. “What do you actually do in a normal week, and how much of it is cleaning data?”
  2. “How did you get your first analyst job, and what did you show the employer?”
  3. “Which tools do you use every day, and which did you learn on the job?”
  4. “How do you handle a request when the person cannot say what they need?”
  5. “What is the difference between your work and a data scientist's where you work?”
  6. “What would you tell a student to learn first?”

Could you own one of these?

The part other career sites never mention

Sometimes. Independent analysts and reporting contractors exist, usually serving small organisations that cannot hire one full-time. Job Bank's figures show a lower share of self-employment in this group than in the workforce overall, so most people in it work for an employer. It tends to come after experience, because clients pay for judgment about their data.

Business 101 is free and teaches that part

Quick answers

Questions people ask about this job

How much does a data analyst make in Ontario?

The median pay for a data analyst in Ontario is $40.87 an hour, according to Job Bank (reference period 2023-2024, updated 19 November 2025). The range Job Bank publishes runs from $24.58 to $61.54 an hour. Pay varies by region, employer and experience.

What is the job outlook for a data analyst in Ontario?

Job Bank rates the employment outlook for this work in Ontario as moderate for 2025-2027 (updated 10 December 2025). Employment is expected to remain relatively stable. A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements. A lower rating means more competition for each opening, not that no one is hiring.

What do you need to become a data analyst in Ontario?

Job Bank says this work usually needs a university degree. The usual route in Ontario, in order: Know what Job Bank says; Get a degree or college programme with data in it; No licence, so show your work.

Where does a data analyst work in Ontario?

Various industries, with the leading share employed in professional, scientific and technical services, mainly computer systems design and related services. Public administration, largely federal government departments. Finance and insurance companies, particularly banks. (Job Bank.)

How many people work as a data analyst in Ontario, and how many are women?

Job Bank counts about 25,550 people working in this job in Ontario. 41% of them are women, compared with 48% across all jobs. That describes who does the work today, not who can.

Tech and engineering jobs: who is hiring What can you do with your degree?

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Wages and training requirements change. Every figure on this page is linked to the body that publishes it, and the review date above says when we last checked. If you find something out of date, tell us and we will fix it.