What finance career is best for long-term?

Hey, I've been looking at forums and thinking about this for a while so I'll finally ask here. Just as a side note before I start, I'm going to a top Canadian undergrad and I'm probably going to be working in Canada.

I'm looking for a job where you can join in at the lower levels and work your way up to the senior area and make good money. I'm not looking for an easy going job, I don't mind long-hours/bad work life balance. But every post I go to, it seems that most finance careers are shaped to make it impossible to move to the top.

I considered career banking as is the norm in Canada but some say it's a dead end career since once you make it to VP, many people get laid off without any exit opps especially in the smaller market of Canada. Is career banking not a good path for someone who hopes to stay with a firm for a while?

Is it possible in management consulting at one of the MBBs or Big 4 to join as an analyst and work long hours and obviously put in effort and make it to Partner without having to worry about getting stuck at one of the levels and then laid off for not moving up?

Do pension funds or smaller Canadian PE firms like Onex fit this description? What about AM or ER?

I've considered accounting but the pay at Big 4 in Toronto is abysmal for the work and effort you put in and the chance at Partner are probably worse here than the States.

Would anyone know a career like this? Thanks