International students who graduated from Canadian schools are more likely to be underemployed than their Canadian peers and many are living with lower incomes as a result.
Statistics Canada's national graduates survey looked at the employment rate of more than 83,000 international students who graduated in 2020, remained in Canada and did not pursue further education.
The survey says slightly more than one-third of the international graduates with bachelor's degrees held jobs that required university degrees, compared with three in five of their Canadian peers.
Statistics Canada says this helps explain why the median annual income for international students with bachelor degrees is 20 per cent below the median level for all Canadian graduates.
The survey also found that international graduates are more than three times more likely to work in the sales and services sectors than their Canadian counterparts.
Despite this, the survey says international and Canadian graduates report similar levels of job satisfaction.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2025.
