Canadian immigrants becoming younger and better educated

Immigrants who have moved to Canada over the last couple of years are generally younger and better educated than those who emigrated more than three years ago, a new study has found.

The study, carried out by the World Education Service (WES), found that 59 per cent of recent immigrants surveyed held an undergraduate degree, 42 per cent had a master’s and 3 per cent had a doctoral degree.

In comparison, prior to 2012 only 34 per cent of the respondents had an undergraduate degree; 18 per cent had a master’s; and 5 per cent, a PhD.

Meanwhile, the survey also found that 95 per cent of new Canadian immigrants are aged between 25 and 44, compared to just 84 per cent before 2012.

More Canadian immigrants also now tend to get their skills and qualifications assessed prior to emigrating, so as to speed up the job finding process once they arrive in the country.  According to the WES, one of a handful of agencies who have been designated by the Canadian government to evaluate immigrant credentials, 80 per cent of all its work last year was done for those who were abroad, compared to 16 per cent in 2012.

While most of the roughly 3,200 respondents were positive with their employment outlook in Canada – one in five were confident they would find jobs in their field within one to three years – they also identified the lack of Canadian work experience and insufficient job market information as potential barriers.

Ninety per cent of people said they wanted to immigrate to Canada for a “better standard of living,” ahead of the 70 per cent who said they were looking for a better career and job prospects.