Top 10 Wealthiest Canadian Athletes 2023

Updated: 2966 Other

We wanted to find out who’s Canada’s top 10 wealthiest athletes, so we started to do some digging. Our research looked at the most popular Canadian sports as well as more niche sports categories, and some of our findings were quite surprising.

Top 10 Wealthiest Canadian Athletes 2023
Noah Strang Hockey Editor

Noah Strang is OLBG's Hockey Expert. He has written about Hockey for some of the Worlds top publications and worked as an accredited NHL media correspondent.

We wanted to find out who’s Canada’s top 10 wealthiest athletes, so we started to do some digging. Our research looked at the most popular Canadian sports as well as more niche sports categories, and some of our findings were quite surprising.

Our visual highlights our main findings, and if you want to find out more about our wealthy athletes keep reading! 


Joe ThorntonImage: wikimedia

10. Joe Thornton

Joe Thornton, born on July 2nd, 1979, in London Ontario, is our 10th richest athlete. He was first drafted into the NHL in December 1997, playing for the Boston Bruins. 

His peak salary earnings were in 2011-2012 (making $10,284,800 CAD for that year) and in 2017-2018 (making $10,284,800 for that year as well). His total TOI/GP (time on ice/ games played) for 2011-2012 was 20:28, and in 2017-2018 his TOI/GP was 18:21. 

The Florida Panthers signed Thornton in August 2021 with a one-year contract, earning $964,200 CAD for that year. His salary and TOI/GP dropped significantly in the 2021-2022 season – sitting at 11:09. 

WIth Thornton’s Panthers contract now having ended, the 43-year-old is currently an unrestricted free agent. 

Joe Thornton’s net worth is $81 million CAD


Jarome IginlaImage: wikimedia

9. Jarome Iginla

The 9th richest Canadian athlete is Jarome Arthur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla. He is a former hockey player and was the fourth black NHL player to make it into the Hall of Fame – inducted in his first year of eligibility.  His career started in 1996 and ended in 2017. During this time, he played for the Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins, Boston Bruins, Colorado Avalanche, and Los Angeles Kings.

Jarome’s highest salary earnings were in 2003-2004 from the Calgary flames, making 

$10,284,800 CAD for that year. His total career earnings amount to $123,575,164.42 CAD

Now retired from the ice, Iginla has returned to Canada to work with aspiring NHL players, as an academy coach. 

Jarome Iginla’s net worth is $81 million CAD


Andrew WigginsImage: wikimedia

8. Andrew Wiggins

The 8th richest Canadian athlete is Andrew Wiggins. Wiggins is an NBA star and is currently one of the key players that can be found on the Golden State Warriors roster. 

In 2014, Andrew Wiggins was drafted as the first pick and secured a contract that guaranteed him at least $11.3 million, with the potential to earn up to $24 million throughout his four-year rookie term. 

Following this, in October 2017, Wiggins signed a five-year contract extension with the Minnesota Timberwolves worth $148 million. Recently, in October 2022, Wiggins agreed to a four-year extension with the Golden State Warriors, valued at $109 million.

Thus far, Wiggins has amassed a career NBA salary of $140 million. In addition, he also earns an estimated $600,000 from endorsement deals with his sponsors, which include Fitbit, BioSteel, and the Chinese shoe brand, Peak.

Andrew Wiggins’ net worth is $88 million CAD


Chris ProngerImage: wikimedia

7. Chris Pronger

Christopher Robert Pronger is a retired ice hockey defenceman as well as a former advisor for the NHL’s Florida Panthers, and our 7th richest athlete. He’s played for the Hartford Whalers, St Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers, Anaheim Ducks, and the Philadelphia Flyers. 

Pronger competed in 4 Olympic games, finishing with Gold in two of them – 2002 Salt Lake City and 2010 Vancouver. He was also inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015. 

Unfortunately, due to a series of injuries, Pronger was unable to continue with his career. Instead, he now runs a family-owned travel business with his wife, called Well Inspired Travel.

Throughout his hockey career, his average yearly salary was $6,345,353.92 CAD. 

Chris Pronger’s net worth is $88 million CAD. 


Sidney CrosbyImage: wikimedia

6. Sidney Crosby

Sidney Patrick Crosby was born in Cole Harbour Nova Scotia on August 7th, 1987, and comes in 6th on our list. He was drafted as the first pick by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005 and still plays with them today. 

His 12-year contract with the Penguins kicked off in the 2013-2014 season (expiring in 2025) and is valued at $134,216,640 CAD. Making it the longest and most expensive contract compared to all the other players on his team. Crosby’s average salary is $11,184,720 CAD.

His NHL career totals sit at 1,108 games played and 1,409 points. 

Sidney Crosby’s net worth is $102 million CAD


Steve NashImage: wikimedia

5. Steve Nash

At number five we have Stephen John Nash, a now-retired basketball player, who was considered to be one of the best point guards in the NBA. He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa on February 7th, 1974, and his family immigrated to Canada the year after, growing up in British Columbia. 

Nash played 10 seasons with the Phoenix Suns, (earning a total salary of $112,250,321.74 CAD), 6 seasons with the Dallas Mavericks (earning a total salary of $37,849,041.06 CAD), and 3 seasons with the L.A Lakers (earning a total salary of $35,870,168.40 CAD) 

Off the court, Nash is an engaged businessman, owning his own production company called CTRL Media, and investing in the Vancouver Whitecaps and Real Mallorca Football Clubs. He also collaborated with Wolf & Shepherd to create a men's footwear line called the Crossover– with proceeds going towards the Steve Nash Foundation

Steve Nash’s net worth is $129 million CAD


Joey VottoImage: wikimedia

4. Joey Votto 

Coming in at number four we have Joey Votto who is currently a professional baseball player, born in Toronto Ontario on Sept 10th, 1983. In 2002 he was drafted into the Cincinnati Reds as a high school student and still plays with this team today. 

Votto represented Canada in 2009 at the World Baseball Classic, a tournament of the best players across various nations, hitting an impressive .566.

His current 10-year contract for $289,260,000 CAD makes him the most well-paid baseball player in Canada with an average salary of $28,926,000 CAD (Removed new sentence)

Joey Votto’s net worth is $149 million CAD. 


Mario Lemieux

3. Mario Lemieux

Canada’s 3rd wealthiest athlete is Mario Lemieux, a retired professional hockey player, born in Montreal Quebec on October 5th, 1965. In June 1984 he was drafted into the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins as the number one pick and continued to play with the Penguins until he retired in 2006. 

In his entire NHL career, Lemieux has played 915 games, scored 690 goals, and had 1033 assists and 1723 points. 

In 1999 Mario created an ownership group to buy the Penguins and saved them from relocating out of Pittsburgh, serving as Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO. 

In 2009 the Penguins won their third Stanley Cup Championship and Mario became the only person to win the Cup as a player and owner. In total, he’s had his name on the Stanley Cup 5 times. 

Now in 2022, Lemieux remains part owner of the Penguins even after the sale of the team to Fenway Sports Group (FSG) who stepped in as majority owners.

Mario Lemieux’s net worth is $272 million CAD


Wayne GretzkyImage: wikimedia

2. Wayne Gretzky

It comes as no surprise that Wayne Gretzky takes the 2nd spot amongst the wealthiest Canadian athletes. Born in Brantford Ontario on January 26th, 1961, he is a retired hockey player and former NHL head coach for the Coyotes. 

As team captain and centre, Gretzky led the Edmonton Oilers to 4 Stanley Cup victories. He’s also broken a multitude of records, including most goals (894), most goals including playoffs in his career (1,016), most goals in one season (92), and most goals in one season including playoffs (100) – just to name a few. 

His total hockey career earnings amounted to $61,017,010.93 CAD, and in today’s dollar, this translates to around $102,628,611.83 CAD. (1999 value adjusted to 2023)

Some of Gretzky’s business and investment ventures include: 

  • Endorsed a wide variety of products from different brands such as EA Sports (video game brand), First Team Sports (maker of sports equipment), Upper Deck Company, Domino’s Pizza, Coca-Cola, Sharp Corporation etc. 
         

  • Partnered with Andrew Peller, opening a winery and distillery in Niagara-on-the-Lake. 
         

Wayne Gretzky’s net worth is $340 million CAD


Peter J Thomson

1. Peter J Thomson

Peter J Thomson takes the number one spot for wealthiest Canadian athlete and is the only billionaire on our list – with a net worth of $12 billion CAD. This may come as a surprise to some of you since he isn’t the most well-known athlete around, however, when it comes to the business world, he is one of the big shots. 

Peter John Thomson, born in Toronto Ontario, is a venture capitalist, and former rally car driver. He’s won a number of titles as a competitive driver, such as the 2005 Canadian National Championship, and the North American Rally Cup Group N Champions 2003. 

Thomson is currently the Director of the media group Thomson Reuters Corporations, and the Chairman and Founder of the Thomvest investment company (founded in 1996). Additionally, he serves as Co-Chairman of The Woodbridge Company and owns the rally racing team Thomson Motor Sport. 

Peter J Thomson’s net worth is $12 billion CAD

The Top 20 Wealthiest Canadian Athletes

If you would like to go further down the list, here is the table showing the top 20 athletes from our research. 

Rank Canadian Athlete Sport Category Net worth $CAD
1 Peter J Thomson Rally Race Driver 12 billion CAD
2 Wayne Gretzky Hockey 340 million CAD
3 Mario Lemieux Hockey 272 million CAD
4 Joey Votto Baseball 149 million CAD
5 Steve Nash Basketball 129 million CAD
6 Sidney Crosby Hockey 102 million CAD
7 Chris Pronger Hockey 88 million CAD
8 Andrew Wiggins Basketball 88 million CAD
9 Jarome Iginla Hockey 81 million CAD
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Methodology

We used Celebritynetworth and Bloomberg to identify athletes’ net worth and ensure we didn't miss any important athletes.  

Data was collected on the 21st March 2023, with currencies converted on the same day from USD to CAD. We used exchange rates on xe.com to convert the currencies.

OLBG is a sports betting community platform expanding it's content for the Canadian market. OLBG only lists Canadian regulated sportsbooks and online casinos.


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