Canadian University Statistics
I’m finally making an update from the 2021 census info!
You’re going to find some helpful (or maybe just interesting) data and statistics about universities and students below. I hope you enjoy!
Just keep in mind that these are statistics and data from 2021.
StatsCan Highlights:
Those with university degrees were less likely to have been impacted by labour market shifts in 2020 following the pandemic.
Their employment rates also recovered more quickly than those with lower education levels.
The number of Canadian-born young adults (aged 25 to 34) with a bachelor's degree or higher is also rising (+2.7 percentage points from 2016 to 2021)
32.9% of Canadians have a bachelor’s degree or higher
Of those aged 25-34, more women (39.7%) have a bachelor’s degree or higher than men (25.7%)
The number of people with a degree in healthcare increased by 24.1% from 2016 to 2021, but there are still labour shortages in this field
The number of people with information science degrees increased by 46.3% from 2016 to 2021
Starting University
226,503 students started undergrad (bachelor’s) degrees in the 2021/2022 academic year
The number of students starting undegrad degrees in Canada has risen solidly up to 2021 since 2014, when there was a small dip after 2013
Of all the students starting undegrad degrees in Canada, 85% were domestic (Canadian) students and 15% were International students
University Attendance
889,650 Canadian students attended Canadian university bachelor’s programs in 2021/2022
They were joined by 159,258 International students in bachelor’s programs
Of all these attendees, 57.2% were women and 42.8% were men (note that they are only using a binary gender classification)
30.9% of these attendees were in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) programs and 69.1% were in non-STEM programs
Graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree
218,424 students graduated with bachelor’s degrees in 2021
187,905 of these grads were Canadian
This number has been rising since 2016, when there was a small dip
27.9% of these grads were from STEM degrees and 72.1% were non-STEM
Tuition Information
Average undergraduate annual tuition for domestic students in 2023 was $6,434, and for international students it was $34,628
The average undergraduate annual tuition for domestic students has dropped from $7,241 in 2018
For domestic (Canadian) undergraduate students, the highest tuition fees were in dentistry programs ($22,586/year) and lowest in education ($4,872/year)
Nova Scotia has the highest average annual tuition for domestic students ($8,707) and Newfoundland & Labrador and Quebec are tied at the lowest ($3,165 and $3,147 respectively)
Public vs Private Post-Secondary Studies
Public institutions are those funded by the province in which they operate, and private institutions are run as businesses by private operators. Most of the universities you’ve heard of are public. A lot of the private institutions are colleges that provide specific career training programs.
In 2020, 89% of students attended public post-secondary institutions and 11% attended private institutions
B.C. had the highest percentage of students attending private post-secondary institutions at 12.8% (the territories were the lowest at 0.4%, followed by the Atlantic provinces at 5.6%)
Students attending private institutions were older: 76.3% were over 25 years old (compared to only 42.8% of those attending public institutions)
Median Annual Income After Graduation
This is the most recent information provided by StatsCan, and it’s from 2017. It shows the income 5 years after graduation. The dollar amounts are reported in 2022 dollars.
Median income of those with an undergraduate degree was $67,500
For those with STEM degrees, it was $76,200
This ranges from $64,500 for a science degree to $87,000 for an engineering degree
For those with non-STEM degrees, it was $65,000
This ranges from $51,500 for a degree in arts and humanities to $81,900 for a degree in health care
The median income for those with a Master’s degree goes up to $84,300
And it goes up again to $94,200 for those with a doctoral degree
Of course, remember that these are the median amount, which is not the same as an average. The median is the amount that the most people in that category make. This number is used to avoid being skewed by outliers who make way more or way less money.
References/More Info
The section of Highlights came from “The Daily” education & labour page from StatsCan.
The degrees sections share info from this Postsecondary Education page on StatsCan.
Tuition information is from this tuition and living accommodation StatsCan page.
The info in public vs private post-secondaries is from this infographic.
Information on median incomes is from here.
