Uncertainty is highest among Canadians aged 18 to 25
Many Canadians are questioning the true value of post-secondary education in Canada when it comes to future employment, according to a recent Ipsos report.
The majority of Canadians are either unsure (39%) of the true value of a diploma or degree, or are convinced it is not worth the investment (13%).
Less than half (48%) of Canadians believe a university or college diploma is worth the investment.
In July, the Quebec Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI) introduced new features to its comparative tool for foreign diplomas, aiming to make it easier for employers to evaluate the credentials of internationally trained candidates.
Younger Canadians more skeptical of ROI
The Ipsos poll of over 1,000 respondents—conducted Aug. 15–19, 2025—shows that scepticism is highest among adults aged 35 to 54. Among them, only 43% say a diploma is worth it and 19% say it is not.
Canadians aged 55 and older are the most positive, with 53% saying a diploma is worth the investment.
Uncertainty is highest among those aged 18 to 25, with 46% unsure and only 5% saying a diploma is not worth it.
A previous report noted that 20% of Baby Boomers believe their degree was a waste of money, compared with 41% of Millennials.
Educational attainment also plays a role in perceptions, finds Ipsos. Only 28% of Canadians with less than a high school education believe a diploma is worth it, compared to 67% of university graduates. Uncertainty is highest among those with less education, with 67% of those without a high school diploma unsure about the value of a post-secondary credential, according to Ipsos.
Regional differences are also evident. Residents of Ontario and Quebec are more likely to see value in a diploma, with 52% to 53% saying it is worth the investment. In Alberta and British Columbia, scepticism is higher, with 20% and 18% respectively saying a diploma is not worth it.
Atlantic Canada stands out for uncertainty, with only 37% saying a diploma is worth it and 54% unsure.
Net “worth it” scores—positive responses minus negative—range from +21 in Alberta and +24 in British Columbia to +40 in Ontario and +43 in Quebec, with Atlantic Canada and Saskatchewan/Manitoba in the middle at +28 and +33, respectively.
How can Canada improve its post-secondary education system?
Nearly 15% of Canada’s working-age population hold a graduate degree today—just below the share that held a bachelor’s degree in 1997, at 16%, according to RBC.
“But those degrees aren’t always leading to jobs that require them. In fact, there are more job vacancies for positions requiring only a high school diploma than there are openings for positions requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher.
“As a result, there’s a rising number of highly educated Canadians working in jobs that do not make effective use of their degree. The OECD has ranked Canada as having the second-highest overqualification rate of 37 countries, with an overqualification rate of 10.6% for Canadian-born workers and 11.8% for Canadian-educated immigrants in 2023.”
Here is how stakeholders can help improve the situation, according to RBC:
- Eliminate barriers to institutional innovation: Postsecondary institutions in Canada require new business models that free them to be more entrepreneurial and in control of their financial destinies while remaining responsible and accountable to the people and communities they serve.
- Enhance the awareness and articulation of skills developed in PSE programmes: Prospective students and new graduates need to know the skills they will emerge with, allowing them to fairly evaluate whether a programme is for them and to communicate these skills to employers. Some programmes are already clear about this, notably at colleges, but the practice should become widespread and should be tied into a larger drive towards national comparable postsecondary outcomes data that can be linked to labour market information.
- Get work-integrated learning (WIL) to where it’s needed most: Most businesses in Canada are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and face more barriers than larger organisations to participating in conventional forms of WIL in terms of resources, time and risk. For them, shorter-term, more flexible and less resource-intensive forms of WIL aligned more closely with SME realities and needs make more sense. These should be considered as part of a robust suite of WIL experiences.
- Develop upskilling and reskilling opportunities: Higher education must stay on top of and respond to upskilling opportunities in their communities, partner with employers (and vice versa) to understand and respond to specific skills gaps, and create programmes that fit the working and personal lives of learners.
- Intensify the drive towards institutional differentiation: Differentiation is critical, where public colleges and universities are encouraged to lean into the teaching, learning and/or research they are best at, and discouraged from unnecessary programme duplication.
- Make it easier for Canadian businesses to adopt and invest in research: Streamlining those processes by implementing, for example, a harmonised federal-provincial environmental assessment process for projects of national strategic importance would speed up approvals and drive private sector investment into new major projects.
Previously, New Brunswick rebranded its apprenticeship and occupational certification branch to promote skilled trades and apprenticeship in the province.
