News and commentary

OTTAWA – The federal government’s investments in university research, skills and talent will help to make Canada more innovative and competitive, says the organization representing Canada’s 97 universities across the country.

“One million young people will graduate from Canada’s universities by the year 2017,” says Stephen Toope, president of The University of British Columbia and chair of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. “They’ll be equipped with the knowledge, experiences and skills Canada will need for decades to come. And they’ll have gained the ability to adapt to the jobs of today – and tomorrow.”

“Canada needs more university, college and trades graduates to compete in the new global knowledge economy,” adds Paul Davidson, president of AUCC. According to a recent CIBC report, most jobs in high demand in Canada require a university degree, including managers in health, education, social and community services; human resources and business service professionals; and supervisors in manufacturing and processing.

The federal government’s research investments have made Canada a top research nation. “Even in difficult fiscal times, the government recognizes that university research fuels a competitive advantage for Canada,” says Mr. Davidson. “Over successive budgets, the federal government has increased support for research and innovation in Canada –investments that nurture talent, create jobs and make us more competitive internationally.”

Canada’s universities also welcomed the importance that today’s budget places on international education initiatives. “Investments in international education leverage economic benefits of more than $8 billion a year – and they benefit every region of Canada,” Mr. Davidson points out. “Employers tell us they want a versatile international workforce. Canada benefits – and Canadian students benefit – from a global outlook.”

AUCC is part of an education sector-led consortium that has urged the government to enhance international education efforts to drive Canada’s global competitiveness, and is ready to work with partners to help ensure the international education strategy advances.

A new element of the international education efforts announced today is enhanced funding for Mitacs’ Globalink Program, which brings top undergraduate students from around the world to Canadian universities to undertake research projects and will now allow Canadian students to go abroad for research experiences. “This is an opportunity for Canada’s universities to enhance their profile and attract the brightest international students to our campuses,” says Mr. Davidson.

University leaders also welcomed a new scholarship program that will improve access and achievement for Aboriginal postsecondary students. The budget provides funding to be matched by the private sector for new scholarships for Aboriginal students through an initiative of Indspire, in collaboration with Canada’s universities.

“Aboriginal youth is the fastest growing segment of our population, yet Aboriginal university graduation rates lag far behind those of the non-Aboriginal population,” notes Mr. Davidson. “These measures are a concrete step towards closing the education gap.”

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For interviews and information, please contact:

Helen Murphy
Assistant Director, Communications
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
613.563.1236, ext. 238
Cell: 613.608.8749
hmurphy@aucc.ca

Nadine Robitaille|
Communications Officer
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
Tel: 613.563.3961, ext. 306
Cell: 613.884.8401
nrobitaille@aucc.ca

This letter to the editor was published in the Toronto Star on December 14, 2012

Paul Davidson
President
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada

TD’s report on early learning is commendable (Early learning is a better bargain, Dec. 7). Carol Goar’s suggestion that funding be taken from universities is preposterous.

Today’s universities are doing more with less. Per student government funding for postsecondary education is half of what it was in 1977. Despite the related pressures, universities are producing the graduates in demand by today’s workforce and developing global citizens.

Goar incorrectly claims the value of a university degree is in decline. Each census report shows the value of a degree is growing.

From 1990 to 2011, the number of jobs filled by university graduates in Canada more than doubled from 1.9 million to 4.5 million while jobs in the skilled trades grew by only 31 percent. Professional and management jobs grew by 1.7 million during this time, with 1.4 million filled by university graduates. 

For new graduates, both employment and the relevancy to studies increase over time. In Ontario, according to a 2010 study, 92 percent of university graduates are employed six months after graduation. That increases to 94 percent two years after graduation. Six months after graduation 78 percent of graduates work in an area related to their field of study. That figure jumps to 84 percent two years after graduation.

Goar implies that many employers require a university degree for jobs such as retail sales. In fact only 1.7 percent of retail jobs are occupied by university graduates, and their average income is $49,807. Twice as many university graduates in sales are in fields such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, technical equipment and communications technology, with an average salary of $75,000 to $91,000. The vast majority of university graduates – more than 80 percent – work in professional, managerial, technological and administrative positions.

It is not surprising that university enrollments are growing. But Canada still needs more graduates. According to federal government estimates, 75 percent of new jobs in the coming decade will require postsecondary education. With a huge demographic shift already underway and increasing global competition, Canada needs to mobilize all of its resources and talents to secure the high quality of life Canadians expect and deserve – and that includes enhanced opportunities in early childhood education.

This letter to the editor was published in the Globe and Mail on November 6, 2012

By Christine Tausig Ford,
Vice-president and Chief Operating Officer,
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada

Gwyn Morgan incorrectly argues that two in five Canadian university graduates are employed in low-skill jobs. The OECD report to which he refers is about the entry-level positions for all graduates from postsecondary education in Canada. More than three out of four of these positions are filled by those with trade, community college and CEGEP diplomas or certificates, not university graduates.

From 1990 to 2011, the number of jobs filled by university grads in Canada more than doubled (from 1.9 million to 4.5 million), while the growth in jobs in the skilled trades grew by less than a third. Professional and management jobs grew by 1.7 million during this time; 1.4 million of them were filled by university grads. And census figures reveal that those with BAs across a wide array of disciplines enjoy a significant income premium.

Canadians know they’re still getting great value and even greater opportunities with their university degrees.

This op-ed was published in the Globe and Mail on September 3, 2012

By Paul Davidson
President and CEO
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada

Like the rush to buy new running shoes for the kids and the shortening of summer evenings, the last days of August routinely bring a wave of editorial comment questioning the value of a university education, bemoaning the cost of tuition, and lamenting a supposed by-gone golden age of higher education. More recently, these have been coupled with articles suggesting today’s graduates are ill-prepared for the workforce and that universities are failing to advance Canada’s research and innovation agenda.

While it is true that tuition has increased in recent years, so too has the value of a degree. The income premium of a university degree is large and growing. University graduates will on average earn $1.3 million more during their careers than a high school graduate and $1 million more than a college grad. And contrary to what you read in the papers, there are jobs for university graduates. Between July 2008 and July 2012 there were 700,000 new jobs for university graduates in Canada compared with 320,000 for college grads, and a net loss of 640,000 jobs for those with no postsecondary education.

Student debt load is a serious issue that we should all work to address – but it is important to note that more than four out of 10 students in Canada graduate completely debt-free. For those that do have debt, almost one-third owe less than $12,000. How do we make sure that the balance among private value, public benefit and access is appropriate?

Canadians typically overestimate the cost of a degree and underestimate its value. In a world of greater uncertainty, a university education remains the surest path to prosperity for Canadians.

One of the greatest public policy achievements of the last three decades is expanded access to Canada’s high quality higher education system. Once the preserve of Canada’s elite – in 1980, only 10 percent of Canada’s young people attended university – full-time enrolment has since increased steadily so that this fall, one in every four young Canadians will be enrolled full-time. Indeed, university enrolment has grown by more than 50 percent since 2000 alone. In fact, undergraduate enrolment surpassed the one million student mark for the first time last fall. Canada will need all of them, and more, to offset the retirement wave that is already underway. In the next 20 years, six million Canadians are set to retire. Many of those jobs, as well as new jobs being created in an increasingly knowledge-driven world, will need to be filled by university graduates. Public investment to ensure today’s students get the quality education experience of previous generations is essential to Canada’s economic strength in the years ahead.

Frankly, public investments have not kept pace with the dramatic expansion of enrolment. In fact, on a per student basis, provincial support for university operating budgets remains at the same level as it was in 1997. You read that right. While 20 years earlier, government operating support averaged $22,400 per student, by 1997 it had fallen to $11,600 and it has stayed at that level ever since. It can be argued that universities today are delivering substantially more with substantially less.

The development of co-op, internship and work placements – both in industry and broader society – has become a distinguishing characteristic of the Canadian university experience. Once an opportunity in a few programs at a few universities, today more than half of all students will have the opportunity of putting ideas to work during the course of their studies. These students benefit from this early exposure to the working world – as do businesses benefit from a ready source of new ideas, approaches and energy.

With more than half of Canada’s faculty hired in the last 10 years, campuses across the country have a new generation of professors providing their students with opportunities for hands-on research experiences – experiences that excite the imagination and help build a culture of innovation. Going to university is more than a rite of passage. It is an opportunity to engage in the pursuit of ideas and research that generates new knowledge, which can then be transformed into products, processes and services. The research environment is a critical training ground for students. The ability to identify a problem, test solutions, and apply new knowledge in related areas is the very definition of innovation and at the heart of the university mission. Research transforms how we think, act and live.

Federal investments in research and innovation since 1997 have provided Canada with an extraordinary platform upon which to conduct leading research that benefits Canadians and the world. These investments are integral to ensuring Canada a prominent place in a globalized world. More important, they are an essential component in finding the new discoveries and nurturing the talent that will lead to enhanced economic prospects for all Canadians. And perhaps most importantly, learning in a research-enriched environment provides university graduates with the 21st century ideas and skills that today’s employers want – and need.

Oh, and those back-to-school running shoes you’re buying? They’re better than ever, thanks to the work of university researchers including those at the University of Calgary’s Human Performance Lab – home to one of the world’s leading experts in the biomechanics of sports shoes.

OTTAWA – Today’s announcement of the inaugural 70 recipients of the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships will help Canada’s universities develop, attract and retain top researchers from across Canada and around the world. The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology) announced the recipients today at the Ontario Cancer Institute.

“The Banting Fellowship program is a significant investment in research excellence at Canada’s universities and other institutions,” says Paul Davidson, President of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. “These fellowships will help our universities attract the best and brightest researchers to our campuses and allow Canadian researchers to complete their placements at a foreign research institute, further strengthening our global research networks.”

Announced by Prime Minister Harper in July 2010, the five-year, $45 million Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships program will award 70 new fellowships each year, each valued at $70,000 annually for two years. The program builds on the success of the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships program, the Canada Research Chairs program and the Canada Excellence Research Chairs program.

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For more information or interview opportunities:

Helen Murphy
AUCC Communications Manager
hmurphy@aucc.ca
613-563-1236 ext. 238