The Conference Board of Canada recently released its annual report card detailing how Canada stacks-up against other countries on a whole host of topics from economy to environment to education. Although Canada improved from a “B” to an “A” in the latter category, the report highlighted a number of areas for improvement, especially in post-secondary education.
The report rightly points out that our high post-secondary graduation rate is fueled by unusually high numbers of college graduates, masking our mediocrity in university graduates. The report concludes: “Given the gap between Canada and leading competitors, it would take many years of increasing university enrolment to change Canada’s ranking.” Better get started.
Perhaps most concerning is Canada’s “D” grade for Ph.D. graduates, with the report showing that we rank last out of 17 peers and we’re getting worse. According to the report, “highly skilled people are key to the creation, commercialization, and diffusion of innovation. Doctorate holders are not only the most qualified in terms of educational attainment, but they are also specifically trained to conduct research.” This is probably also liked to Canada’s failing grade in the innovation category.
The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations recently recommended that Ontario universities be given funding to hire 5,000 new full-time faculty over the next five years. While they are certainly needed at our universities, we won’t be able to find applicants if we aren’t producing enough Ph.D. graduates.
The Ph.D. issue aside, the report is mostly good news for Canada’s education system. Our graduation rates are high and our skill levels are adequate. This is a very interesting report and I encourage everyone to take a look.
-Alexi White
Executive Director
Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance
