When it came to the percentage of the population in working age (defined as 25 to 64 years old) who had a college degree or higher, Canada came in first place among the G7 countries (which also included the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, and Japan). Canada’s labor force was made up of more than half (57%) of postsecondary graduates. In reality, since 2006, Canada has topped the G7 in terms of worker qualifications.
The fact that Canada has a strong and internationally recognised post-secondary education system, from which Canadians have benefited, is one of the main factors contributing to the country’s rising number of competent workers. The rise of the educational industry among Canadians alone demonstrates the sector’s strength.
With constant growth over the past 10 years, 39.7% of young Canadian-born women and 25.7% of young Canadian-born men had a bachelor’s degree or higher. In reality, the rate of growth among men in the core demographic (25–54 years old) who had earned a degree in the previous five years was comparable to that of the ten years prior to that time.
The fact that Canada’s labor force is more educated and qualified than ever before is due to another important factor. Nearly half of the increase in credentialed workforce participants between 2016 and 2021 was attributable to new immigrants and non-permanent residents (those with a work permit). These were present not just among those with a bachelor’s degree (39.1%), but also among those with higher education credentials like master’s degrees (52.2%) and doctorates (55.8%).
Since 59.4% of recent immigrants had a bachelor’s degree or higher, they actually had higher levels of education than any other group. A important source of skilled labor for the economy after graduation, Canada continues to be the most popular destination for overseas students among the G7 nations (with 620,000 present in Canada in 2021).