International student degrees don't match labour market needs, data shows

And seemingly unlimited opportunities for every individual. Akash Singh believed it all when he graduated from a two year business program in 2021 after spending $34,000 on his courses. He’s working the same security guard job he found as a student. I applied and so many companies were as an accountant and stuff. I ended up like getting nothing. His study permit just one of nearly 800,000 issued to business students. Driving Canada’s record high international enrollment, permits for these programs have increased more than any other field in the past five years. Overall, business programs made-up 27% of all permits. Only 6% were for healthcare programs and just over 1% for trades, both sectors in desperate need of skilled workers. But schools say international students are needed to fill employment gaps that colleges supply skilled workers. And it all aligns with the federal government’s immigration strategy. I would characterize it as a mismatch. This economist says What could have been thousands of skilled workers became cheap labor. Students are graduating from programs that are not particularly valuable in the labor market, that are not allowing them to get the jobs that will then allow them to transition and become productive. This education consultant says business programs are also cheaper to run than technical or clinical training. I don’t think it had much to do with the labor market needs. I think it what it had to do with was. Colleges. Financial needs. The federal immigration minister called it a boom of fake business degrees. There’s a responsibility of provinces in this to make sure that the programs that they are offering to international students are the ones that fit the job market. So, Valerie, this is really interesting. A lot of numbers here, and I know you and the team have been pouring over them. When you step back and look at what you’ve learned, what’s your big take away? Well, Adrian, the fact that these numbers even exist, that tells us a lot. We now know that Ottawa has known exactly where these permits were going for years. And when we look at this business trend, it’s not exactly subtle. We’re talking about five times more permits over the course of six years. When we showed these numbers to experts and economists, they told us it demonstrates a clear lack of oversight. Really important. Valerie Willett, thank you. Thank you.