What is the value of higher education in Canada? |
A student walks at the St. George campus of the University of Toronto, Nov. 20.Wa Lone/Reuters
Boxi Yang is a senior research associate for education and skills at the Conference Board of Canada.
Canada’s postsecondary sector is caught between two worlds. On the one hand, youth unemployment hovers near 14 per cent, the highest in more than a decade outside the pandemic. On the other, Canada is facing chronic labour shortages in health care, STEM and skilled trades. Add to this dichotomy the 2025 federal budget, which contains major new spending priorities but offers no coherent plan on how new labour-market needs will be met.
This disconnect raises a hard question: Does higher education still deliver value? The answer is yes, but only if the system evolves to connect learning with demand.
The fiscal result is clear: Postsecondary education is a good public investment. Graduates earn more, pay more in taxes and generally more than repay the public cost of their education. Government return on investment estimates show that programs in almost every field of study yield a positive fiscal return.
Immigration cuts leave an Ontario college, and its city, feeling the........