Graduates in the Economy. 2021 Environmental Scan

This report shares data in the following categories as they relate to graduates in Ontario's economy: (1) Matching skills to employer needs: pathways, entrepreneurship, and innovation; (2) Ontario's college graduate advantage compared to the U.S.; (3) Ontario's post-secondary graduates in the world economy; (4) Educational attainment and employment of Ontarians from under-represented groups; (5) Apprenticeship and adult education; and (6) Return on investment in Canadian post-secondary education. Among the highlighted findings are: (1) Over the past three decades, Ontario employers have required an increasingly more qualified and highly skilled workforce. This has led to almost three million more jobs by 2020 for those with postsecondary credentials; (2) Adults who don't have post-secondary credentials have faced reduced employment in every sector; (3) Ontario's post-secondary students have been preparing for a disruptive economy by enrolling more often in programs that offer employment-ready credentials, including programs that teach entrepreneurship and innovation; (4) College graduates continue to provide Ontario with a key competitive advantage over the U.S. They are three times as numerous per capita and contribute to exports per capita at twice the U.S. level; (5) Almost 300,000 more young Ontarians have post-secondary credentials than a comparable per capita number of Americans; (6) Young adults in Ontario have a higher share of post-secondary credentials than in any single state in the U.S. Some southern states graduate fewer than half as many people with post-secondary credentials on a per capita basis; and (7) In Ontario, students from underrepresented groups -- including immigrants, Indigenous Peoples and those with disabilities -- each graduate from colleges at a rate that reflects their share of the population. However, this is not the case for universities. Consequently, overall post-secondary access to education for underrepresented groups is low. [For the 2020 report, see ED607130.]