Published by Senator Catherine Callbeck on 01 December 2009
Post-secondary education is essential to Canada's competitiveness in the global knowledge-based economy. We all recognize the importance of increased participation to our economic and social development goals, but for a nation that prides itself in providing opportunities for all its citizens, we need to do more.
According to the OECD's report entitled Education at a Glance 2009, Canada has one of the highest attainment levels. Almost half of the working age population has a university or college qualification. This is good news. But the fact is that we need more working age people with post-secondary educations in order to compete, and other countries are making faster progress producing new graduates. For example, Canada's graduation rate at the university level was 31 per cent in 2006. That is up from 27 per cent in 2000, which is an increase of only four percentage points. In the same time period, Australia improved its graduation rate by 14 percentage points; now 50 per cent of its students graduate. Most impressively, Iceland nearly doubled its graduation rate, rising from 33 per cent to 63 per cent. We need to do better.
Labour market forecasts suggest that higher education and training are fast becoming a prerequisite for employment. It has been estimated that approximately 1.7 million new jobs will be created in this country by 2015. More than two-thirds of those jobs, nearly 70 per cent, will be in occupations that require post-secondary education. Demand will be especially high for those jobs that require a university degree, college education or apprenticeship training, mostly due to our continued shift to a knowledge-based economy and increased public spending in the health-care sector. In contrast, lower-skilled occupations will see much weaker job growth. For example, jobs that require only on-the-job training will see an average growth rate of only about 0.6 per cent each year, compared to 1.6 per cent for university graduates, or 1.1 per cent for college graduates or apprentices.
A post-secondary education offers many advantages. According to a Statistics Canada report released last year, the average hourly wage for a man under 35, if he has completed high school, is $14.47. That wage increases to $16.54 for a man with some post-secondary education, to $17.93 with a trades certificate or diploma, and $21.58 with a bachelor's degree. The total wage difference between a man with a high school diploma and one with a university degree is almost 50 per cent. For women, the differences are similar, albeit less than for a man: $11.63 if she has completed high school, $14.44 with some post-secondary education, $13.46 with a trades certificate or diploma, and $19.26 with a bachelor's degree.
Besides earning more, they can be happier, healthier and more involved in their communities.
All in all, each and every Canadian will benefit from the work of people who pursued their education to the post-secondary level, be it through a university degree, college diploma or trades certificate. They increase our productivity and our economic prosperity.
But tuition, extra fees, debt load, family income levels, means of financial assistance, parental attitude, geography and socio-cultural challenges are all barriers to equal access to post-secondary education.
This is why I asked the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology committee to examine all barriers to post-secondary education, and we are doing this study now. The committee will hear from witnesses from across the country, including students, faculty, researchers, university administrators, and Canadian and foreign officials, and examine what is working both here at home and in other countries. Their goal will be to recommend positive changes that will help more young people pursue an education. These barriers must be broken down so that every person who has the ability to attend university or college does so.
Islanders who would like to share their views or recommendations about post-secondary education with the Social Affairs committee, can send them by email to SOC-AFF-SOC@sen.parl.gc.ca, or by mail to Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, The Senate of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0A4.
Catherine Callbeck is a Liberal senator for Prince Edward Island and a member of the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology.