Post-Secondary Graduate Earnings

How Much Do They Make? New Evidence on the Early Career Earnings
of Canadian Post-Secondary Education Graduates by Credential &
Field of Study

Home > Our Projects > Post-Secondary Graduate Earnings

Why we're doing this project

When Canadian students decide to pursue post-secondary education (PSE), they want to know how much they can expect to earn after graduation. Reliable information about PSE labour market outcomes helps students, parents, policy-makers and the broader Canadian public make more informed decisions.

What the project is about

LMIC partnered with the Education Policy Research Initiative to provide in-depth research on the earnings of university and college graduates. Data from the Education and Labour Market Longitudinal Platform allow us to track the earnings of graduates by credential and field of study.

What we found

Earnings for Canadian PSE graduates increase significantly over time across all credentials and fields of study. Women and international students who stay to work in Canada experience lower earnings initially. The earnings of international students catch up to their peers, but women face a persistent and growing wage gap.

The findings and data can be customized and explored through various tools, including the following: