Healthcare graduates outperform STEM and business peers, i.e., a recent Statistics Canada study has revealed that international students who graduate from healthcare programs in Canada have the strongest career alignment after becoming permanent residents, surpassing those from STEM and business fields.
The study, authored by Youjin Choi and Li Xu, examined how closely international graduates’ jobs matched their fields of study, a measure referred to as “alignment.” Findings show that healthcare graduates were far more likely to work in roles related to their studies than graduates from other fields, particularly those with credentials below the bachelor’s level in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) or business and administration.
In contrast, healthcare graduates at the bachelor’s level experienced the highest degree of alignment. Overall, students who earned their highest education in Canada also saw better study-to-work alignment outcomes, emphasizing the advantage of local education for future career success.
The study focused on foreign nationals who became permanent residents between 2011 and 2021.
Healthcare Graduates See Strongest Study-To-Work Alignment
On average, graduates from healthcare programs showed alignment rates 10–20% higher than peers from other disciplines. Business and administration graduates had the lowest alignment rates.
The following tables normalize alignment rates across all levels of study for these programs:
| Field Of Study | STEM | Business And Administration | Healthcare |
| Alignment rate | 43.0% | 35.2% | 56.7% |
Even when STEM was divided into its subfields, healthcare graduates maintained higher alignment overall.
| Field Of Study | Science And Science Technology | Engineering And Engineering Technology | Mathematics And Computer And Information Science |
| Alignment rate | 23.9% | 47.3% | 47.9% |
International STEM Graduates Outperform Canadian-Born Peers
Interestingly, international STEM graduates who completed their highest education in Canada had 16% higher alignment compared to Canadian-born STEM graduates.
However, the reverse was true for other fields. Healthcare and business international graduates with Canadian education had 8.3% and 7.2% lower alignment, respectively, than their Canadian-born counterparts.
| All Levels Of Education | Alignment – Highest Education In Canada (%) | Alignment – Canadian-Born Postsecondary Graduates Aged 23 To 41 (%) |
| STEM | 47.9 | 31.9 |
| Science and science technology | 26.9 | 15.0 |
| Engineering and engineering technology | 53.8 | 40.0 |
| Mathematics and computer and information science | 51.3 | 44.4 |
| Business and administration | 37.6 | 44.8 |
| Health care | 57.5 | 65.8 |
STEM Graduates Enjoy Low Unemployment Despite Lower Alignment
As healthcare graduates outperform STEM and business peers, it is also vital to note that STEM graduates are enjoying low unemployment despite lower alignment.
This means that while healthcare graduates were most likely to work in their field, STEM graduates had the lowest unemployment rate among all study groups.
Among graduates who moved into jobs outside their field of study (“unaligned graduates”), STEM graduates stood out as the only group more likely to work in medium-skilled (TEER 2 and 3) roles (12.9%) than in lower-skilled (TEER 4 and 5) ones (11.5%).
Meanwhile, unaligned healthcare graduates were just as likely to work in high-skilled (TEER 0 and 1) and medium-skilled (TEER 2 and 3) positions (7.5% each) and slightly more likely than STEM graduates to take on lower-skilled (TEER 4 and 5) roles (12.4%).
Note: The Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities (TEER) system is part of Canada’s National Occupational Classification (NOC) framework used to categorize different job types. TEER 0 represents the highest skill level (management positions), TEER 1 generally requires a university degree, while TEER 5 includes the lowest-skilled roles that need little to no formal education or training.
The table below outlines the work outcomes, shown as percentages, for the entire group studied between 2011 and 2021:
| Work Outcomes | STEM Total (%) | Business And Administration (%) | Healthcare (%) |
| Did not work in 2020 and 2021 | 5.3 | 7.7 | 8.0 |
| STEM | 43.0 | 5.3 | 2.5 |
| STEM-related | 4.8 | 1.5 | 1.0 |
| Business and related (excluding TEER 4 and 5) | 8.5 | 35.2 | 4.4 |
| Health | 2.0 | 1.0 | 56.7 |
| Other | 36.4 | 49.3 | 27.4 |
| TEER 0 and 1 (high-skill occupations) | 11.9 | 12.6 | 7.5 |
| TEER 2 and 3 | 12.9 | 15.8 | 7.5 |
| TEER 4 and 5 (low-skill occupations) | 11.5 | 20.9 | 12.4 |
| Overall field-of-study alignment rate | 43.0 | 35.2 | 56.7 |
Unaligned Graduates Often Transition To Different Fields
Many unaligned graduates shifted to careers outside the core fields of STEM, business and administration, or healthcare altogether.
Specifically, 36.4% of STEM graduates, 49.3% of business and administration graduates, and 27.4% of healthcare graduates transitioned to unrelated occupations. Around 10–14% of these individuals (depending on their field of study) moved into TEER 4 and 5 jobs, roles typically considered “low-skilled,” which often attract higher participation due to easier entry requirements.
Among all groups, business and administration graduates were the most likely to switch to entirely different professions unrelated to their studies. Interestingly, business-related occupations also attracted the highest number of transfers from other study groups, with 8.5% of STEM graduates and 4.4% of healthcare graduates moving into this sector.
Canadian Education Greatly Improves Career Alignment
As healthcare graduates outperform STEM and business peers, it is also vital to note that Canadian education significantly improves career alignment.
This implies that graduates who obtained their highest level of education in Canada had noticeably stronger career alignment.
This trend was consistent across all fields of study, though the level of impact varied. Healthcare graduates experienced the smallest change in alignment based on where they studied, with just a 1.5% increase for those educated in Canada. In contrast, STEM graduates saw the most significant improvement, with alignment rates rising by 16.2% when their highest education was earned in Canada.
Alignment rates by location of highest educational achievement (inside vs. outside Canada) are given below:
| Field Of Study | Alignment – All International Student Graduates (%) | Alignment – Highest Education In Canada (%) | Alignment – Highest Education Outside Canada (%) |
| STEM | 43.0 | 47.9 | 31.7 |
| Science and science technology | 23.9 | 26.9 | 16.9 |
| Engineering and engineering technology | 47.3 | 53.8 | 32.1 |
| Mathematics and computer and information science | 47.9 | 51.3 | 40.1 |
| Business and administration | 35.2 | 37.6 | 29.0 |
| Health care | 56.7 | 57.5 | 56.0 |
Higher Education Levels Lead to Better Alignment
The study found a clear trend: the higher the level of education, the better the career alignment, especially for STEM and business graduates.
However, healthcare showed an exception, i.e., graduates with a bachelor’s degree had higher alignment than those with postgraduate credentials, suggesting that overqualification may lead to broader career options outside core healthcare roles.
| Field Of Study | Level Of Study | Alignment Rate (%) |
| STEM | Below a bachelor’s degree | 21.9 |
| Bachelor’s degree | 39.6 | |
| Above a bachelor’s degree | 53.1 | |
| Business and administration | Below a bachelor’s degree | 19.3 |
| Bachelor’s degree | 38.4 | |
| Above a bachelor’s degree | 44.6 | |
| Health care | Below a bachelor’s degree | 53.8 |
| Bachelor’s degree | 62.1 | |
| Above a bachelor’s degree | 51.6 |
Canadian-Educated Immigrants Outperform Those Without Local Credentials
The research also confirmed that international students who studied in Canada before obtaining permanent residency had significantly better alignment than immigrants without Canadian education.
This suggests that Canadian education not only helps students integrate into the workforce but also increases the likelihood of finding work relevant to their field of study.
| All Levels Of Education | Alignment – Graduates, Highest Education In Canada (%) | Alignment – Graduates, Highest Education Outside Canada (%) | Alignment – No Canadian Education (%) |
| STEM | 47.9 | 31.7 | 30.1 |
| Science and science technology | 26.9 | 16.9 | 13.7 |
| Engineering and engineering technology | 53.8 | 32.1 | 31.4 |
| Mathematics and computer and information science | 51.3 | 40.1 | 39.4 |
| Business and administration | 37.6 | 29.0 | 25.2 |
| Health care | 57.5 | 56.0 | 49.3 |
In summary, the Statistics Canada study reinforces the importance of Canadian education and field choice in shaping the career outcomes of international students. While healthcare graduates continue to lead in job alignment, STEM graduates excel in employment stability, and both groups highlight the long-term success of Canada’s study-to-immigration pathways.
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