Learning to play sports is a great way instil a love of exercise, understand teamwork and cooperation, and learn how to win and lose gracefully. Great stuff, if that’s your only motivation.
One of Canada’s most famous athletes, Sidney Crosby was on the ice at age three, and was likely a better hockey player than most of us at five. With his $12-million (U.S.) salary and lucrative endorsement deals, it’s no wonder that hockey parents see his success as a reason to push their kids to succeed, despite the odds.
What are the chances of getting into the NHL?
Not great. There are 30 National Hockey League teams, with a total of about 600 players. Seven of those teams are in Canada, with about 140 players in total. (Teams have between 20 and 23 players on their rosters). Is professional hockey player a rare profession? Canada has about 35 million people, so NHL players account for just 0.0004 per cent of us.
So what do Canadians do for a living?
We can’t all play hockey in the big leagues. So what do Canadians do to bring home the bacon?
For women, the most common job is retail salesperson, accounting for 4.7 per cent of all employed women, says Statistics Canada in its 2011 National Household Survey (NHS). Administrate assistant (4.0), registered nurses (3.4%), cashier (3.3%) and elementary school teachers (2.9%) round out the top five.
Retail sales was also the top job for men (3.3 per cent of all employed men), with transport truck drivers, retail and wholesale manager (2.5%), carpenter (1.7%) and janitor, caretaker and building superintendent (1.7%).
Women accounted for more than 9 out of 10 workers in: administrative assistant; registered nurse and registered psychiatric nurse; early childhood educator and assistant; and receptionist, reports Statistics Canada.
Men accounted for more than 9 out of 10 workers in: transport truck driver; carpenter; automotive service technician, truck and bus mechanic and mechanical repairer; construction trades helper and labourer; welder and related machine operator; electrician; and delivery and courier service driver, reports Statistics Canada. About 4.5 million homes, about one-third of all households in Canada, were selected for the 2011 National Household Survey.
Butwhat if my kid wants a really cool job?
If you don’t want an ordinary job, but you don’t have the skills to be the next Gretzky, Orr or Brodeur, here are a few rare jobs that also require serious talent, good genes and/or luck:
Brain Surgeon
Neurosurgeons operate on the brain, spinal cord, vertebral column, and peripheral nervous system. Training to become a neurosurgeon takes about 14 years of schooling, including a pre-med bachelor’s degree, medical school to obtain an M.D. degree and then a six-year residency program.
There were 42 neurology and 9 paediatric neurology residency spots available to Canadian medical graduates in 2011, according to the Canadian Neurological Society. Donna Irvin of the CNSF said in an email that “there are a lot of factors involved but the approximate number of Canadian practising neurosurgeons is around 320.”
Neurosurgeons work about 65 hours per week and can make upwards of $424,963 per year in gross clinical earnings.
Rocket Scientist
Aerospace engineers conduct research, and design and develop vehicles and systems for atmospheric and space environments, says NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the U.S.. Careers within this field include pilots, life scientists (doctors, biologists, physiologists), mathematicians, and engineer designers, a field that includes architectural, electrical and mechanical engineers.
In Canada, the average salary for aerospace engineers is $82,900. (NHS, 2011), and the labour market is improving due to the “predicted high level of growth in the aerospace product and parts manufacturing industry,”says Service Canada.
When asked to give career advice to kids, astronaut Dr. Sally K. Ride said that “NASA is looking for people with a whole variety of backgrounds… So find something that you really like and then pursue it as far as you can and NASA is apt to be interested in that profession.”
Politician
There’s only one top job in Canada, and it’s currently up for grabs. Our Prime Minister’s base salary is $167,400, part of a total compensation package of $334,800 plus expenses and free accommodations at the official residence. The 323 federal Members of Parliament make $167,400 each, with an extra $80,100 for the Speaker, the leader of the opposition and the cabinet ministers. It’s good work if you can get it, but you’ll have to get re-elected every four years. MPs must serve for six years to be eligible for pension benefits.
Musician
Whether or not you love her music, Céline Dion’s bank accounts will go on and on (and on). The Québécois singer is the wealthiest Canadian musician, worth $630-million (U.S.) at the end of 2014.
Is it worth pushing your kid to take singing lessons? Sure, if you’ve got the next Shania Twain ($350-million) or Justin Bieber ($200-million) or Michael Buble ($150-million, according to Celebrity Net Worth) on your hands.
Gordon Downie, lead singer of the Tragically Hip since 1983, has a net worth of $4-million from his work with the popular Canadian band and solo projects.
How do average musicians fare? A 2013 report found that “individual artists earned an average of $7,228 per year from music-related activities in 2011.”The report said that 67 per cent of the 13,400 Canadians in the industry are artists, and that 60 per cent earns less than $50,000 in gross revenues, “while the top 10% earn more than $500,000 annually.”
Supermodel
So maybe your little snowflake is tall and slender. Could they be the next Kathy Ireland ($350-million U.S.) or Gisele Bundchen ($320-million U.S.)? Canadian supermodel Linda Evangelista, infamous for saying ““We don’t wake up for less than $10,000 a day,”has an estimated net worth of $18-million.
The big names in modelling are generally female, but a Vancouverite is currently making a name for himself abroad, if not at home. Godfrey Gao is famous in Asia and has just been named Canadian Tourism Commission as their spokesman for China, reports the National Post.
The top models in the world bring home some lofty paycheques, but what do ordinary models make? Often their career is short and the compensation is low, with some making a low hourly wage or even nothing for the chance at exposure to the big names in the business. Here’s a first-person account of a former model from Toronto who found some success in modelling.