Astronomy programs in Ontario
15 programs across 11 campuses, with published admission ranges starting at 70%. Sorted by the range each one publishes, lowest first, so you can see where you land.
Programs
15
Campuses
11
Lowest range
70%
What this leads to
The picture for astronomy as of 2026-08-17, not a description of this particular program.
University astronomers who teach and conduct independent research, though this requires a PhD. Government observatory researchers conducting research assignments, or planetarium guides and educators at observatories.
In its favour
- Strong median wage: $56.49/hour in Canada
- Jobs exist at universities, government labs, and observatories across the country—not limited to one region
- You get to work on fundamental questions about the cosmos that genuinely matter to human knowledge
Worth knowing
- Very few positions available: Canada currently has 12 advertised astronomer jobs and 24-25 total across job sites, with supply vastly exceeding demand
- PhD is almost mandatory for any real astronomy career—a bachelor's degree alone won't get you research work, only planetarium or teaching assistant roles
- Most academic positions are temporary postdocs; permanent university jobs are extremely scarce, forcing many to eventually leave research
- Entry-level astronomy work in Canada is not plentiful enough to absorb graduates regularly
How AI is changing this work
AI is handling routine pattern recognition tasks—galaxy classification, object detection, filtering noise from massive datasets—that once required significant human effort. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will generate 20 terabytes of raw data per observing night and detect roughly 2,000 supernovae nightly, making human analysis impossible. No team of human astronomers can process that volume; the choice is between AI and leaving most data unexamined. General-purpose AI can now classify real cosmic events with 93% accuracy using only 15 example images. But new discoveries may come from simultaneous analysis at multiple scales that human researchers couldn't comprehend alone. The field is not disappearing—it's shifting toward astronomers who understand AI as a tool and can ask better research questions, rather than those doing routine data processing.
Where this came from (6 sources)
- 1. 24 astronomy Jobs in Canada, July 2026 | Glassdoor
- 2. 13 Popular Astronomy Jobs (With Description and Salaries) | Indeed.com Canada
- 3. Astronomer in Canada | Available jobs - Job Bank
- 4. 25 Astronomy Jobs Hiring Now | Indeed
- 5. Astronomer in Canada | Job prospects - Job Bank
- 6. Astronomer in Canada | Labour Market Facts and Figures - Job Bank
All 15 programs
- 70–73%Ontario TechAstrophysics
- 70–73%Ontario TechAstrophysics (Co-op)
- 70%LakeheadGeneral (Arts or Science) (Thunder Bay, Orillia & Online)
- 70%LakeheadScience One (Thunder Bay and Orillia)
- 73–80%U of T (Mississauga)Chemical and Physical Sciences
- 73–80%U of T (Scarborough)Physical & Environmental Sciences - Health Sciences Stream (regular and co-op)
- 73–80%U of T (Scarborough)Physical & Environmental Sciences (regular and co-op)
- 73–77%YorkPhysics & Astronomy (BSc, Co-op available)
- 80–87%Queen'sPhysical and Chemical Sciences Pathway
- 80–83%WaterlooPhysical Sciences (Regular/Co-op)
- 80–87%WesternScience
- 83–87%McMasterChemical & Physical Sciences Gateway
- 83–87%Queen'sConcurrent Education/Science
- 83–90%U of T (St. George)Mathematical & Physical Sciences
- —Trent (Durham)Science and Business
Other subjects
- Business Studies 203
- Interdisciplinary Studies 187
- Computer Science 135
- Education Studies 117
- Environmental Studies 116
- Psychology 109
- General or Integrated Engineering 104
- Law & Criminology 101
- Media and Communication Studies 98
- Economics 95
- Biological Sciences 92
- Others in Subjects Related to Medicine 92
Ranges are what universities publish, not guaranteed cutoffs. Work out your top 6 to see which of these you actually clear.