What Statistics Canada's Graduate Earnings Data Shows by Field of Study

Where This Earnings Data Comes From

Statistics Canada builds this earnings picture by linking two separate records for the same person: their enrollment and graduation record from the Postsecondary Student Information System, and their income tax filing record. Because the link runs through tax data rather than a survey, it tracks close to the full graduating population instead of the subset who respond to a phone or email survey, and it reports actual filed income rather than a number a graduate recalls from memory.

This work sits inside Statistics Canada's broader education and labour market outcomes program. Search the current data tables directly on the Statistics Canada website by field of study, credential level and province before you rely on any specific figure, since releases update on their own schedule.

Why Two Years and Five Years Both Matter

The two-year mark shows the immediate outcome, close to what a graduate earns right after finishing school and settling into a first job. The five-year mark shows the trend: which fields keep climbing and which ones plateau early.

Some fields start lower at two years but close the gap by five years as graduates move into licensed or senior roles. Others start high on two-year figures because of a strong entry-level job market in that field, then grow more slowly afterward. Reading both numbers together tells you more than either one alone.

A field tied to a professional license, such as accounting or nursing, often shows a bigger jump between the two-year and five-year mark than a field without a licensing step, since graduates spend part of the early period completing licensing requirements before their income reflects the fully licensed role.

Why Median Beats Average for This Comparison

Statistics Canada reports median earnings for this data, the midpoint income where half of graduates earn more and half earn less. A median resists distortion from a small number of high earners in a field, which an average would not. If a field shows a high average but a much lower median, a handful of outlier earners are pulling the average up while most graduates in that field earn closer to the median figure.

How to Compare Fields Without a Misleading Picture

Compare earnings within the same credential level and province first. A bachelor's degree in a field and a college diploma in an adjacent field represent different lengths of study and different costs, so a straight income comparison between them skips over the investment side of the decision.

Watch for field definitions that group specialties together. A broad field label like health sciences can include both a shorter diploma program and a longer professional degree, so the reported figure across that whole group can hide the gap between the lowest and highest paid roles inside it.

Province matters too, since education policy and typical salaries for the same field differ across provinces. Check the current release for the specific province and field you plan to study before treating any single figure as your expected outcome.

What This Data Leaves Out

Tax-linked earnings data misses graduates who moved outside Canada after finishing school, since their income no longer appears in a Canadian tax filing. Fields with graduates who commonly work abroad for a stretch after graduation can show a lower measured cohort earnings picture than the true outcome of everyone who graduated.

The figures also do not adjust for cost of living. A given salary in Toronto or Vancouver buys less than the same number in a smaller city, so a straight dollar comparison between graduates working in different regions understates the real difference in living standards.

Finally, this data reports what alumni earn as employees and self-employed filers. It does not measure job satisfaction, career growth potential, or how well a field matches your own interests and strengths. Use it as one input in your program decision alongside other measures like a program's graduate employment rate, not the only one.

How to Actually Search the Tables

Statistics Canada organizes this data by standard field-of-study and program classification codes rather than everyday program names, so search by broad field first, such as engineering, health, or social sciences, then narrow down once you find the right table. Filter by credential level (certificate, diploma, bachelor's, master's, doctorate) and by province before you compare any two fields, since mixing credential levels or provinces in a single comparison produces a misleading picture.

Pairing Earnings Data With Program Cost

Earnings data answers only half the return on investment question. Pair it with the tuition and program length for the specific credential and province you are considering, since a field with a high five-year median earnings figure is a weaker return if the credential to enter it costs far more or takes far longer than a comparable alternative field. Read earnings alongside cost and time together, not earnings alone.