Highest-Paid Researchers in British Columbia (2025)

In 2025, 238 researcher roles appeared on the British Columbia Compensation Disclosure, earning an average of $96,832 and a median of $89,819. The highest-paid was David Jonathan Peters Wells (Vice President, Academic & Research at Vancouver Community College) at $287,898. Research associates, scientists, and coordinators at public universities and agencies.

Figures cover disclosed public-sector employees only (those above British Columbia’s $75,000 disclosure threshold). Records span 2009–2025.

Researchers disclosed (2025)

238

Average

$96,832

Median

$89,819

Highest

$261,878

Top 25 highest-paid researchers (2025)

#	Name	Job title	Employer	Total
1	David Jonathan Peters Wells	Vice President, Academic & Research	Vancouver Community College	$287,898
2	Paula Wood-Adams	VP Research & Innovation	University of Northern BC	$261,878
3	Robin Hicks	Vice-President, Academic & Applied Research	College of the Rockies	$243,388
4	Justin Langlois	Associate Vice President, Research + Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies	Emily Carr University of Art and Design	$223,052
5	Tara Diane Hyland-Russell	Vice-President, Academic & Research	Northern Lights College	$216,392
6	Davina Banner-Lukaris	Interim Avp, Research And Operations	University of Northern BC	$193,545
7	Jo Axe	Dean, Graduate Studies And Research	Royal Roads University	$183,031
8	Deborah Zornes	Director, Research And Innovation	Royal Roads University	$170,331
9	Sarah Gray	Research Lead - Dms	University of Northern BC	$169,962
10	Jodi Giesbrecht	VP, Archives, Research and Collections	Royal BC Museum	$149,545
11	Katherine Cotie	Dir, Strat. Policy & Research	Province of British Columbia	$139,218
12	Angela Weltz	Exec Director, Policy&Research	Province of British Columbia	$137,450
13	Jenni Bard	Director, SI,Research & Policy	Province of British Columbia	$135,029
14	Tejinder Sidhu	Dir. Policy Research & Systems	Province of British Columbia	$132,617
15	Annik Foreman	Director, Policy & Research	Province of British Columbia	$131,176
16	Marten Geertsema	Research Geomorphologist	Province of British Columbia	$128,982
17	Victoria M Schuckel	Ex Dir Strat Policy & Research	Province of British Columbia	$127,221
18	Richard James Brown	Dir Bus Research & Diagnostics	Province of British Columbia	$126,943
19	Madison Reid	Exec Dir, Research and Policy	Province of British Columbia	$122,616
20	Scott Janzwood	Research Manager, Casade Institute	Royal Roads University	$119,775
21	Brendan Gregory Nicholas Miller	Research Scientist	Province of British Columbia	$119,735
22	Gwen Hill	Manager, Equity, Diversity And Inclusion In Research	Royal Roads University	$119,446
23	Caren Dymond	Research Carbon & Climate Chg	Province of British Columbia	$118,916
24	Ariel Lade	Dir, Social Policy & Research	Province of British Columbia	$118,452
25	Nicole Balliet	Manager, Research Administration	University of Northern BC	$117,283

Employers with the most researchers (2025)

Province of British Columbia198 · $92,175 avg University of Northern BC20 · $110,502 avg Royal Roads University11 · $115,839 avg Langara College4 · $90,729 avg Vancouver Community College1 · $241,104 avg College of the Rockies1 · $204,680 avg Emily Carr University of Art and Design1 · $187,323 avg Northern Lights College1 · $185,275 avg Royal BC Museum1 · $129,754 avg

Job titles included

Research Officer26Research Analyst21Research and Policy Analyst10Researcher7Sr. User Experience Researcher5Senior Researcher4Research Silviculturist4Research Geomorphologist4Manager, Research and Writing4User Experience Researcher3

Researchers in other provinces

Researchers in Ontario →

Highest-Paid Researchers in British Columbia (2025)

Top 25 highest-paid researchers (2025)

Employers with the most researchers (2025)

Job titles included

Researchers in other provinces

Other British Columbia job categories