HOW TO GET THERE
Typical pathway
A typical route is to finish secondary school with strong math, data, and social studies courses, then earn a university bachelor’s degree in economics, business, statistics, public policy, or a related field. Some people go on to graduate study, especially for research or policy work, and requirements can vary by employer, province, or specialization. Early experience often comes through co-op terms, internships, research assistant jobs, or entry-level roles in government, consulting, finance, or business analysis. Building skills in statistics, research, writing, and spreadsheets is usually helpful.
THE WORK
What you may do
Legacy duties
- Conduct research and develop models to analyze, explain and forecast economic behaviour and patterns, and devise methods for collection and analysis of data
- Forecast production and consumption of specific products and services based on records of past production and consumption and general economic and industry-specific conditions
- Prepare forecasts of income and expenditure, interest rates and exchange rates
- Analyze factors which determine economic growth and advise government agencies on policies to increase economic activities
- Analyze factors which determine labour force participation, employment, wages, unemployment and other labour market outcomes
- Study mathematical formulae and statistical techniques and apply them to the testing and quantifying of economic theories and the solution of economic problems
- Study the nature of money, credit and the operation of banks and other financial institutions to develop monetary policies and forecasts of financial activity
- Monitor economic data to assess the effectiveness, and advise on the appropriateness, of monetary and fiscal policies
- Examine problems related to the economic activity of individual companies
- Examine financial methods, production costs and techniques and marketing policies to recommend possible improvements
- Examine statistical data on the exchange of goods and services among nations
- Forecast production and consumption of renewable resources and supply, consumption and depletion of non-renewable resources
- Conduct research on market conditions in local, regional or national area to set sales and pricing levels for goods and services, to assess market potential and future trends and to develop business strategies
- Monitor regional and local economic trends
- Study regulatory processes and provide material in support of legal proceedings with government and other parties.
SKILLS TO BUILD
Skills used in this Career
Knowledge of trendsLeadershipProject ManagementResearch