Education, learning and training: Research Paper Series
Graduates of 2010 to 2018 receiving payments from the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) program in 2020

In 2020, the federal government implemented the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) program to provide financial support to employees and self-employed Canadians directly affected by COVID-19. The CERB was available for individuals who fulfilled all of the following criteria:

• resided in Canada
• were at least 15 years old
• had stopped working or had been working reduced hours because of COVID-19
• did not expect to earn over $1,000 in employment or self-employment income for at least 14 days in a row during a four-week period
• had employment or self-employment income of at least $5,000 in 2019 or in the 12 months prior to the date of their application
• had not quit their job voluntarily.

Applicants received $2,000 for an initial four-week period and could reapply for additional periods, eventually extending to 28 weeks, for a maximum benefit of $14,000. The program covered the period from March 15 to September 26, 2020.^Note

This paper compares the proportion of 2010 to 2018 postsecondary graduates who received CERB payments in 2020, by various educational and socio-demographic characteristics, to the proportion of “all workers” who received CERB, as outlined in a recent Statistics Canada publication entitled “Workers receiving payments from the Canada Emergency Response Benefit program in 2020”. The 2010 to 2018 graduates are of particular interest because, while they are younger and typically have less seniority, having a recent education qualification may have helped them keep their employment. The analysis is limited to individuals who earned at least $5,000 in 2019.^Note

Appendix A provides additional information on the proportion of graduates who received CERB payments by characteristics such as sex, age group (in 2020), province of residence (in 2020), field of study (in the year of graduation) and industry of employment (in 2019), for the graduates of 2010 and 2018 who graduated with a college-level certificate, a college-level diploma, an undergraduate degree, a master's degree or a doctoral degree.

A higher proportion of college-level graduates received CERB payments than university-level graduates

A higher proportion of the most recent graduates (33.4% for 2018) received CERB payments, compared to the least recent graduates (19.9% for 2010),^{Note Note} but those who graduated between 2010 and 2018, regardless of the year of graduation, had a lower proportion than “all workers”^Note (35.2%).

Data table for Chart 1



Data table for Chart 1
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 1. The information is grouped by Year of graduation (appearing as row headers), Proportion of PSIS graduates who received CERB payments, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).

Year of graduation	Proportion of PSIS graduates who received CERB payments
	percent
2010	19.9
2011	20.7
2012	21.3
2013	22.3
2014	26.2
2015	27.5
2016	29.2
2017	31.0
2018	33.4
All workers	35.2
Sources: Statistics Canada, Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS), 2009/2010 to 2018/2019 and Emergency and recovery benefits, March 2020 to September 2020.

The remainder of the paper focuses on the 2018 graduates. This year of graduation was selected since it was the most recent year of graduation available.

A smaller proportion of graduates from 2018 with higher educational qualifications received CERB payments than those with lower educational qualifications.^Note The four university-level educational qualifications included in this analysis had a lower proportion of graduates who received CERB payments than the general working population. Both college-level educational qualifications included in this analysis had a higher proportion of graduates who received CERB payments than the general working population.

Data table for Chart 2



Data table for Chart 2
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 2. The information is grouped by Educational qualification (appearing as row headers), Proportion of PSIS graduates who received CERB payments, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).

Educational qualification	Proportion of PSIS graduates who received CERB payments
	percent
College-level certificate	45.8
College-level diploma	41.1
Undergraduate degree	31.4
Professional degree	17.3
Master's degree	19.0
Doctoral degree	13.3
All workers	35.2
Sources: Statistics Canada, Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS), 2009/2010 to 2018/2019 and Emergency and recovery benefits, March 2020 to September 2020.

Graduates of 2018 in the “Visual and performing arts, and communications technologies” field of study had the highest proportion of graduates who received CERB payments

Students who graduated in 2018 from the “Visual and performing arts, and communications technologies” field of study^Note had the highest proportion of graduates receiving CERB payments among those who completed a college-level diploma and among those who completed an undergraduate degree (56.2% and 54.2%, respectively).^Note This may be related to the fact that, as shown in a recent study, workers in the “Arts, entertainment and recreation” industry sector had among the highest proportion who received CERB payments. The high CERB proportion is likely related to the significant and disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the culture, arts, entertainment and recreation industries. On the other hand, students who graduated from the “Mathematics, computer and information sciences” field of study had the lowest proportion among those who completed a college-level diploma and those who completed an undergraduate degree (27.9% and 15.4%, respectively). This may be, in part, because graduates of those programs were disproportionately able to enter industries that permitted workers to work from home.

Data table for Chart 3



Data table for Chart 3
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 3. The information is grouped by Field of Study (appearing as row headers), Educational qualification, College-level diploma and Undergraduate degree, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).

Field of Study	Educational qualification
	College-level diploma	Undergraduate degree
	percent
Education	40.3	43.7
Visual and performing arts, and communications technologies	56.2	54.2
Humanities	53.5	42.6
Social and behavioural sciences and law	53.7	38.0
Business, management and public administration	43.2	23.8
Physical and life sciences and technologies	34.5	35.1
Mathematics, computer and information sciences	27.9	15.4
Architecture, engineering, and related technologies	35.9	20.8
Agriculture, natural resources and conservation	34.5	27.4
Health and related fields	32.8	25.0
Personal, protective and transportation services	48.9	28.3
Other instructional programs	35.5	30.6
Sources: Statistics Canada, Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS), 2009/2010 to 2018/2019 and Emergency and recovery benefits, March 2020 to September 2020.

A greater proportion of female graduates received CERB payments than male graduates, for graduates who earned a college-level diploma or an undergraduate degree

A recent study has shown that the pandemic disproportionately impacted women; more specifically, women have been more severely affected by employment losses in the services sector than their male counterparts. The occupations and sectors in which women were more likely to be employed were most impacted by emergency measures, including “retail trade”, “accommodation and food services”, and other service industries that involve face-to-face contact.^Note In the current study, more female graduates received CERB payments than male graduates for college-level diploma graduates and undergraduate degree graduates. The same tendency was also present among “all workers”.

Data table for Chart 4



Data table for Chart 4
Table summary
This table displays the results of Data table for Chart 4. The information is grouped by Sex (appearing as row headers), Educational qualification, College-level diploma, Undergraduate degree and All workers, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).

Sex	Educational qualification
	College-level diploma	Undergraduate degree	All workers
	percent
Men	39.0	29.5	34.2
Women	42.9	32.7	36.3
Sources: Statistics Canada, Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS), 2009/2010 to 2018/2019 and Emergency and recovery benefits, March 2020 to September 2020.

Conclusion

This study shows that 2010 to 2018 graduates were less likely to receive CERB payments than the general working population. When considering time since graduation, the study also demonstrated that, while graduates in all years were less likely to receive CERB payments than the general working population, the most recent graduates were more likely to receive the CERB than less recent graduates. However, when disaggregating the data of the 2018 graduates, not all educational qualifications were less likely to receive the CERB than “all workers.” Those who graduated with a college-level certificate or a college-level diploma in 2018 were more likely to have received the CERB than the “all workers” category. Likely due to the impact of COVID-19 on the culture, arts, entertainment and recreation industries, those who graduated in 2018 with a college-level diploma or an undergraduate degree in the “Visual and performing arts, and communications technologies” field of study were the most likely to receive CERB payments. Finally, men were less likely to receive CERB payments than women, both among 2018 graduates and the general working population.

Further studies could be conducted to take into account the interaction between the various educational and socio-demographic factors impacting the likelihood of receiving CERB payments. Other factors that could be considered in further studies include the educational qualification of the “all workers” category and their field of study and occupation.

George Marshall and Eric Fecteau are analysts with the Canadian Centre for Education Statistics at Statistics Canada.

Notes to readers

This report uses the Education and Labour Market Longitudinal Platform (ELMLP), which creates an environment where the administrative data from the CERB program can be integrated to the Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS). Earnings in 2019 were gleaned from employee T4 slips and net self-employment income and eligible dividends reported on T1 Income Tax and Benefit Return forms. The CERB data highlighted in this release come from Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and contain information on initial payments from both streams of the program, one administered by ESDC and the other by the Canada Revenue Agency on its behalf.

For more information on the methodology used to create the cohorts of graduates, the exclusions and the data limitations of this methodology, see the Labour market outcomes for college and university graduates, technical reference guide. Individuals with insufficient information to create an anonymous key to integrate the CERB data to PSIS data were removed from the 2010 to 2018 graduate’s analysis.

Appendix A