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​Here Are the Best Degrees in Canada If You Want to be Rich

Sorry, philosophers.

If your parents forced you to become an engineer or scientist because they said it would make you a ton of money, you'll be pleased to know that a new study has confirmed that, yes, indeed, the average salary of somebody in the Canadian oil, gas and/or energy sectors (STEM) is high as fuck compared to their stupid and poor social science counterparts (it me).

The research, conducted by job search engine Adzuna this month and provided to VICE this week, analyzed 100,000 Canadian jobs requiring degrees and compared the average salaries of those jobs against one. Starving artists, hold tight, the answers won't surprise you.

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The results showed that those working in STEM fields had a remarkably-higher average salary than those who worked in fields such as human resources, with energy, oil and gas workers making an average of $91,114, versus only $54,523 for HR workers. Other STEM fields, such as engineering and IT, also had high average salaries of $82,205 and $79,680 respectively.

"It's clear that there's a demand for these type of high-skill jobs in Canada," Adzuna representative Stephen Pritchard told VICE. "[Even with] sustainable energy [threatening fossil fuel production], it's likely these companies need the best and brightest to make the transition going forward."

Read More: We Asked People With the Most Useless-Sounding University Degrees If They Regret Their Life Choices

Adzuna's study also found that Calgary, not Toronto (ie. the centre of the world/universe), was the highest-paying Canadian city for graduates seeking entry-level positions. While good ol' T.O. came in second, the study also found that the city had four times the number of entry-level vacancies (4,326) available for those same jobs as Calgary did (1,046). Vancouver (1,851) and Montreal (1,404) also lagged behind Toronto significantly for job availability.

"It's more competitive for these jobs in Calgary, which may [attribute to] the higher entry-level pay," Pritchard said.

Pritchard noted that it's not clear whether Canada's oil economy has had any impact on the availability or profitability of high-level energy jobs, but he did add that another study Adzuna did last year looking at jobs facing elimination by automation in UK found creative/scientific jobs were not likely to be expunged by robots.

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