I'm an international aspiring applicant to an MArch program in CA
How's the salary right off the m.arch?
How's the opportunity to get a job? Since I'm international, I only have architectural experience from home country and no CA exp.
Hopefully you guys can chime in something.
Thanks
Non Sequitur
Apr 23, 23 12:21 pm
depends on the city. Large metro areas like Vancouver and Toronto will pay less due to higher applicant pools but everyone is hurting for staff these days so who know.
Junior staff (March grads and arch interns) can expect between 40 and 50k cad per year on average. Maybe a bit higher if you have a very specific skill set but that’s rare. Please keep in mind that cost of living in the great white north is less than the USA, for example, since we don’t need to fund our own healthcare or stock up on weapons and ammo.
That 40-50k per year is the same for fresh tech college grads too. They have a lower career ceiling than licensed architects but they are 2 or 3 times more billable even with little experience.
ahjun
Apr 23, 23 2:36 pm
Cool thanks for the reply NS, the value you mentioned is for Toronto and Vancouver? How's it in Ottawa and Cambridge/kitchener/Guelph. I'm deciding between Carleton MArch and Waterloo MArch. Carleton got some funding while ULoo has yet to reply.
Non Sequitur
Apr 23, 23 2:46 pm
oops, replied in wrong spot. See below.
Non Sequitur
Apr 23, 23 2:45 pm
Loo without question if you want top-notch degree but they don't accept many outside of their own undergrad pool. Just don't plan on living/working in the area afterwards if you pick waterloo because Galt, Kitchener, Guelph are not large places so architecture offices and project opportunities are very limited.
Ottawa is a weird place because it's entirely dependant on government (public) sector. The average gov salary is easily 6 figures and half the city is employed in some way or other in the public sector so it's super hard to compare if you're in the private (non IT) sector. But, with that said, gov money is unlimited so there is plenty of work at all times and every arch office in Ottawa has their mitts on a few gov project cash-cows. Carleton is no slouch in the grad school department either and you can probably get some good experience if you join in with the CIMS lab but I've lost track of their faculty since I graduated (undergrad) back in the glory days of 2007.
ahjun
Apr 23, 23 3:14 pm
Man thank you! Do u work in Ottawa?
Non Sequitur
Apr 23, 23 4:09 pm
Yes. Based in Ottawa however our office is active all over Ontario.
kenchiku
Apr 23, 23 4:22 pm
I graduated 2022. The salary range for people I've stayed in touch with seems to be from $45k-$55k (smaller cities) and $55k-$65k (Toronto/Vancouver).
ahjun
Apr 23, 23 4:27 pm
Thank you. I should be planning to move after studying it seems.
conneryfriesen
May 1, 23 5:01 pm
I have personally worked in both Winnipeg and Vancouver as an Intern (Completed Bachelors, and M.Arch in 2020) and have had two vastly different salarys. Across all cities expect 40k-60k out of school, but a 10k bump or so after a year or 2 of experience. When starting out expect closer to 40k in smaller cities (Winnipeg for example), and closer to 60k in Toronto and Vancouver.
natematt
May 1, 23 5:10 pm
If I move to Canada I'd like my salary converted to gallons of syrup :)
hi
I'm an international aspiring applicant to an MArch program in CA
How's the salary right off the m.arch?
How's the opportunity to get a job? Since I'm international, I only have architectural experience from home country and no CA exp.
Hopefully you guys can chime in something.
Thanks
depends on the city. Large metro areas like Vancouver and Toronto will pay less due to higher applicant pools but everyone is hurting for staff these days so who know.
Junior staff (March grads and arch interns) can expect between 40 and 50k cad per year on average. Maybe a bit higher if you have a very specific skill set but that’s rare. Please keep in mind that cost of living in the great white north is less than the USA, for example, since we don’t need to fund our own healthcare or stock up on weapons and ammo.
That 40-50k per year is the same for fresh tech college grads too. They have a lower career ceiling than licensed architects but they are 2 or 3 times more billable even with little experience.
Cool thanks for the reply NS, the value you mentioned is for Toronto and Vancouver? How's it in Ottawa and Cambridge/kitchener/Guelph. I'm deciding between Carleton MArch and Waterloo MArch. Carleton got some funding while ULoo has yet to reply.
oops, replied in wrong spot. See below.
Loo without question if you want top-notch degree but they don't accept many outside of their own undergrad pool. Just don't plan on living/working in the area afterwards if you pick waterloo because Galt, Kitchener, Guelph are not large places so architecture offices and project opportunities are very limited.
Ottawa is a weird place because it's entirely dependant on government (public) sector. The average gov salary is easily 6 figures and half the city is employed in some way or other in the public sector so it's super hard to compare if you're in the private (non IT) sector. But, with that said, gov money is unlimited so there is plenty of work at all times and every arch office in Ottawa has their mitts on a few gov project cash-cows. Carleton is no slouch in the grad school department either and you can probably get some good experience if you join in with the CIMS lab but I've lost track of their faculty since I graduated (undergrad) back in the glory days of 2007.
Man thank you! Do u work in Ottawa?
Yes. Based in Ottawa however our office is active all over Ontario.
I graduated 2022. The salary range for people I've stayed in touch with seems to be from $45k-$55k (smaller cities) and $55k-$65k (Toronto/Vancouver).
Thank you. I should be planning to move after studying it seems.
I have personally worked in both Winnipeg and Vancouver as an Intern (Completed Bachelors, and M.Arch in 2020) and have had two vastly different salarys. Across all cities expect 40k-60k out of school, but a 10k bump or so after a year or 2 of experience. When starting out expect closer to 40k in smaller cities (Winnipeg for example), and closer to 60k in Toronto and Vancouver.
If I move to Canada I'd like my salary converted to gallons of syrup :)
It’ll be litres of syrup.
AND STUFF