A new report is sounding the alarm on the urgent need for more post-secondary students to enter Ontario’s workforce when they’re done with their studies.
New analysis from the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) says there’s a greater need for what it calls “highly skilled talent” in key sectors between now and 2035 – more than 100,000 graduates per year across the board, with the highest number needed for jobs in science and technology, health care and business.
“We will need a million university graduates over the next 10 years to meet the economic needs of our economy,” says COU President and CEO Steve Orsini.
“If we don’t start investing today, it will take several years for these students to graduate. So it’s telling us now we need to expand enrollment in those programs.”
For its part, the province says the investments in universities are being made.
“Earlier this year, our government announced our new funding model, which will bring an additional $6.4 billion into the postsecondary sector, including $1.7 billion to fund 70,000 more seats for in-demand programs like STEM, health-care, skilled trades and teaching,” Minister Nolan Quinn’s office said in a statement sent to CityNews.
The Ford government also points out that its Ontario Learn and Stay Grant has “covered over 13,000 health-care students across the province.”
“We’re showing a shortfall in those key high-demand areas, so as the government deliberates ‘where should we invest in these spaces for the future?’ we can show them this will contribute to economic growth,” says Orsini.
The analysis comes in the wake of criticism of recent changes to the province’s OSAP program, which cut the number of grants available to students, sparking speculation that fewer young people will enroll in post-secondary education.