I was just looking at some research documents I had collected over the past few weeks for something to write about the state of labour in this country for Canada Day. We nerdy web editors like to tie-in our editorial to calendar events. (You'll see a plethora of office romance stories pop up around Valentine's Day, working mom stories around Mother's Day, etc.)

And I found some recent data from Stats Can on Canadian salaries. The average Canadian weekly wage is $896.63. That means we're earning just over $46,000 a year, which is up 3.1% over this time last year.

That's the average. But it's the highs and lows that are always more interesting to talk about. So here's a look at the highest (and the lowest) paying jobs in the country.

The ten highest paying jobs in Canada:

Specialist physicians
$ 350,467

Judges
$ 179,503

Senior managers of financial, communications, and other businesses
$ 176,478

Senior managers of goods production, utilities, transportation, and construction
$ 168,627

General practitioners and family physicians
$ 151,834

Dentists
$ 150,690

Senior managers of trade, broadcasting, and other services
$ 136,654

Lawyers
$ 146,695

Engineering manager
$ 117,047

Banking, credit, and investment managers
$ 148,963

And the 10 lowest paying jobs in Canada:

Sewing machine operators
$20,664

Cashiers
$20,557

Ironing, pressing and finishing occupations
$19,297

Artisans and craftspersons
$20,555

Bartenders
$18,899

Harvesting labourers
$18,683

Service station attendants
$16,520

Food service counter attendants and food preparers
$17,912

Food and beverage servers
$18,192

Babysitters, nannies and parents' helpers
$15,106

These numbers are useful as discussion pieces, but they don't tell the full story. Over the course of my career, I've held low paying jobs that I've loved (farm, horse stable, bookstore) and high-paying jobs that I disliked (assembly line, ad copy writer). What I've learned is that liking what you do is more important than what it pays. So do something you like. Happy Canada Day weekend everyone.

- Peter Harris
Peter Harris on Twitter