Education and labour market outcomes
Key indicators
Selected geographical area: Canada
-
Percentage of adults aged 25 to 64 with a college or university credential - Canada
(2021 Census of Population)57.5% -
Percentage of adults aged 25 to 64 with a bachelor’s degree or higher - Canada
(2021 Census of Population)32.9%
More education and labour market outcomes indicators
Selected geographical area: Canada
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Percentage point change in adults aged 25 to 64 with a bachelor’s degree or higher - Canada
(2016 to 2021)4.3
(period-to-period change) -
Overqualification rate of immigrants aged 25 to 64 with a degree completed outside Canada - Canada
(2021 Census of Population)25.8% -
Percentage of adults aged 25 to 64 with an apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma - Canada
(2016 Census of Population)10.8% -
22.4%
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Percentage of adults aged 25 to 64 with a bachelor's degree or higher - Canada
(2016 Census of Population)28.5% -
Percentage of men aged 25 to 34 with an apprenticeship certificate - Canada
(2016 Census of Population)7.8% -
Percentage of women aged 25 to 34 with a bachelor's degree or higher - Canada
(2016 Census of Population)40.7%
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All (7)
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- 1. Study: Does reading proficiency at age 15 affect employment earnings in young adulthood? ArchivedStats in brief: 11-001-X201929020844Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletinRelease date: 2019-10-17
- 2. Overqualification, skills and job satisfaction ArchivedArticles and reports: 75-006-X201600114655Description:
Based on a self-reported measure of overqualification, this article examines the association between overqualification and skills among workers aged 25 to 64 with a university degree, using data from the 2012 Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). This article also examines the extent to which overqualified workers are dissatisfied with their jobs. Overqualified workers are defined in this study as university-educated workers who reported that they were in a job requiring no more than a high school education.
Release date: 2016-09-14 - Articles and reports: 75-006-X201600114630Description:
This article examines the literacy and numeracy skills of off reserve First Nations and Métis adults aged 25 to 65, focusing on the factors and labour market outcomes associated with higher skill levels. In this study, individuals in the higher range for literacy and numeracy are defined as those who scored level 3 or higher (out of 5 levels) in tests administered by the 2012 Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC).
Release date: 2016-05-18 - Articles and reports: 89-552-M2008020Geography: CanadaDescription:
Considerable research effort has been devoted to understanding earnings differences between immigrant and Canadian-born workers. Previous studies have established that immigrants typically earn less than Canadian-born workers with the same amount of education and work experience. The low earnings of immigrants are often attributed to the specificity of human capital to the country where it originates - in other words, education or work experience in the country of origin cannot be directly transferred to the host country, resulting in well qualified immigrants holding low paying jobs. Another possibility is that employers in the host country discriminate against immigrants. This paper uses data from the Canadian component of the International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALSS), which includes both standard demographic and labour market information for the Canadian born and immigrants and results from tests of literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills, to investigate these issues. Interpreting the test scores as direct measurements of cognitive skills, the authors provide a closer examination of explanations for low immigrant earnings than has previously been possible. In addition, the data include more precise information on where education was obtained and age of migration than is available in most previous studies, further enabling scrutiny of immigrant-Canadian born earnings differentials.
Release date: 2008-07-21 - Articles and reports: 89-552-M2006014Geography: CanadaDescription:
This paper examines the role of human capital accumulation in explaining the relative levels of income per capita across Canadian provinces. We use principally two different types of human capital indicators based respectively on university attainment and literacy test scores. A synthetic time series of the average literacy level of labour market entrants for each period between 1951 and 2001 is constructed from the demographic profile of literacy test scores taken from the 2003 Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey. The percentage of the working-age population holding a university degree is available since 1951 from the census figures. Our main results are the following. First, both human capital indicators are strong predictors of the relative levels of per capita income (minus government transfers) across provinces, along with the relative rates of urbanization and specific shocks in Alberta and Quebec. Second, the skills acquired by one extra year of schooling result in an increase in per capita income of around 7.3 percent. Third, we find that our literacy indicator does not outperform the university attainment indicator. This contrasts sharply with our recent result found at the cross-country level (Coulombe, Tremblay, and Marchand [2004]) and suggests substantial measurement error in cross-country schooling data. Fourth, by focusing on regional economies that have similar levels of social infrastructure and social development, our analysis provides potentially more reliable estimates of the contribution of human capital accumulation to relative living standards.
Release date: 2006-04-05 - Journals and periodicals: 89F0125XDescription:
These highlights provide a brief summary of the report 'Literacy, numeracy and labour market outcomes in Canada', (catalogue no. 89-552-MPE00008 and 89-552-MIE00008) which investigates the relationship between labour market success and literacy skills.
Release date: 2001-03-19 - Surveys and statistical programs – Documentation: 89F0120XDescription:
Direct measures of skill attainment such as the International Adult Literacy Survey are used to assess the importance of educational outcome skills such as literacy in determining labour market outcomes such as earnings. Policy makers also use them to direct resources most efficiently. However, these skill measures are the product of complex statistical procedures. This paper examines the mathematical robustness of the International Adult Literacy Survey measures against other possibilities in estimating the impact of literacy on individual earnings.
Release date: 2000-06-02
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Analysis (6)
Analysis (6) ((6 results))
- 1. Study: Does reading proficiency at age 15 affect employment earnings in young adulthood? ArchivedStats in brief: 11-001-X201929020844Description: Release published in The Daily – Statistics Canada’s official release bulletinRelease date: 2019-10-17
- 2. Overqualification, skills and job satisfaction ArchivedArticles and reports: 75-006-X201600114655Description:
Based on a self-reported measure of overqualification, this article examines the association between overqualification and skills among workers aged 25 to 64 with a university degree, using data from the 2012 Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). This article also examines the extent to which overqualified workers are dissatisfied with their jobs. Overqualified workers are defined in this study as university-educated workers who reported that they were in a job requiring no more than a high school education.
Release date: 2016-09-14 - Articles and reports: 75-006-X201600114630Description:
This article examines the literacy and numeracy skills of off reserve First Nations and Métis adults aged 25 to 65, focusing on the factors and labour market outcomes associated with higher skill levels. In this study, individuals in the higher range for literacy and numeracy are defined as those who scored level 3 or higher (out of 5 levels) in tests administered by the 2012 Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC).
Release date: 2016-05-18 - Articles and reports: 89-552-M2008020Geography: CanadaDescription:
Considerable research effort has been devoted to understanding earnings differences between immigrant and Canadian-born workers. Previous studies have established that immigrants typically earn less than Canadian-born workers with the same amount of education and work experience. The low earnings of immigrants are often attributed to the specificity of human capital to the country where it originates - in other words, education or work experience in the country of origin cannot be directly transferred to the host country, resulting in well qualified immigrants holding low paying jobs. Another possibility is that employers in the host country discriminate against immigrants. This paper uses data from the Canadian component of the International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALSS), which includes both standard demographic and labour market information for the Canadian born and immigrants and results from tests of literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills, to investigate these issues. Interpreting the test scores as direct measurements of cognitive skills, the authors provide a closer examination of explanations for low immigrant earnings than has previously been possible. In addition, the data include more precise information on where education was obtained and age of migration than is available in most previous studies, further enabling scrutiny of immigrant-Canadian born earnings differentials.
Release date: 2008-07-21 - Articles and reports: 89-552-M2006014Geography: CanadaDescription:
This paper examines the role of human capital accumulation in explaining the relative levels of income per capita across Canadian provinces. We use principally two different types of human capital indicators based respectively on university attainment and literacy test scores. A synthetic time series of the average literacy level of labour market entrants for each period between 1951 and 2001 is constructed from the demographic profile of literacy test scores taken from the 2003 Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey. The percentage of the working-age population holding a university degree is available since 1951 from the census figures. Our main results are the following. First, both human capital indicators are strong predictors of the relative levels of per capita income (minus government transfers) across provinces, along with the relative rates of urbanization and specific shocks in Alberta and Quebec. Second, the skills acquired by one extra year of schooling result in an increase in per capita income of around 7.3 percent. Third, we find that our literacy indicator does not outperform the university attainment indicator. This contrasts sharply with our recent result found at the cross-country level (Coulombe, Tremblay, and Marchand [2004]) and suggests substantial measurement error in cross-country schooling data. Fourth, by focusing on regional economies that have similar levels of social infrastructure and social development, our analysis provides potentially more reliable estimates of the contribution of human capital accumulation to relative living standards.
Release date: 2006-04-05 - Journals and periodicals: 89F0125XDescription:
These highlights provide a brief summary of the report 'Literacy, numeracy and labour market outcomes in Canada', (catalogue no. 89-552-MPE00008 and 89-552-MIE00008) which investigates the relationship between labour market success and literacy skills.
Release date: 2001-03-19
Reference (1)
Reference (1) ((1 result))
- Surveys and statistical programs – Documentation: 89F0120XDescription:
Direct measures of skill attainment such as the International Adult Literacy Survey are used to assess the importance of educational outcome skills such as literacy in determining labour market outcomes such as earnings. Policy makers also use them to direct resources most efficiently. However, these skill measures are the product of complex statistical procedures. This paper examines the mathematical robustness of the International Adult Literacy Survey measures against other possibilities in estimating the impact of literacy on individual earnings.
Release date: 2000-06-02
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