Immigration programs that seek to attract highly skilled and highly educated foreign nationals to Canada have been so successful that racialized women now hold more bachelor’s degrees than any other demographic group in the country, reports Statistics Canada.
“In 2021, for the first time, the proportion of women in most racialized groups with a bachelor’s degree or higher, at 48.4 per cent, rose slightly above that of racialized men, at 46.5 per cent,” reports the demographic and statistical services agency.
Racialized women are now not only more likely to hold bachelor’s degrees than their male counterparts, racialized men, but they are also far more educated than the average Canadian.
“The 2021 Census of Population results showed that most racialized groups generally have higher levels of education than the total population in Canada,” notes Statistics Canada.
“This gap in educational attainment between the racialized population and the total population widened from 2006 to 2021. In 2021, racialized women and recent racialized immigrants – who landed in Canada in the 10 years leading up to the 2021 census – were among the most educated in Canada.”
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While only 32.9 per cent of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 hold a bachelor’s degree, 47.5 per cent of racialized people the same age in the country hold these undergrad degrees.
Blacks and those immigrants from southeast Asia were the only racialized people in Canada in 2021 to be less likely to hold a bachelor’s degree. Among southeast Asians in Canada, 30.5 per cent held bachelor’s degrees and so did 32.4 per cent of Blacks.
“Among racialized groups, South Asian, Chinese and West Asian populations had the largest percentage-point increases (of people holding bachelor’s degrees) from 2006 to 2021,” notes Statistics Canada.
“The proportion of the South Asian population with a bachelor’s degree or higher increased from 36.5 per cent in 2006 to 55.2 per cent in 2021, up 18.7 percentage points.”
Economic immigration programs which give applicants points under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) for educational attainment, have been a big driver of this trend towards more highly-educated immigrants in Canada.
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Through the CRS, applicants will be given a score out of a maximum of 1,200 points. The highest-ranked applicants will receive an invitation to apply for permanent residence (ITA) during period draws.
The CRS prioritizes applicants who are likely to successfully settle and have a positive economic impact within Canada. For this reason, having an approved job offer or a provincial nomination for permanent residence will have a very positive impact on an applicant’s score.
Having an approved job offer in a managerial field (National Occupation Classification TEER 0 Major group 00) is worth 200 points, while all other job offers (NOC TEER 1, 2 or 3, or any TEER 0 other than
Higher Education Is Increasingly Common Among Immigrants To Canada
Major group 00) are worth 50 points. Both points allocations will serve to significantly strengthen a candidate’s profile.
A provincial nomination will automatically result in 600 points being given to an applicant. This allocation of points will almost always guarantee that a candidate will receive an invitation to apply for permanent residence.
“The prevalence of higher education among the racialized population, compared with the total population, is partly due to the increase in the number of highly-educated immigrant women and men who settled in Canada during the period from 2011 to 2021,” notes Statistics Canada.
“In 2021, the majority, 53.2 per cent, of immigrants aged 15 and older living in Canada were admitted under the economic category. This proportion was 58 per cent among those who arrived during the period from 2011 to 2021, compared with 50.8 per cent of their counterparts who immigrated before 2011.
“In most immigration programs in Canada, higher educational attainment is part of the admission criteria under the economic category. In addition, some immigrants might pursue further education in Canada after their arrival.”
Canada operates a two-tier immigration system, accepting applications for permanent residence through its federal Express Entry system’s Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program, Federal Skilled Trades (FST) program and Canadian Experience Class (CEC), as well as the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) of its 10 Canadian provinces.
