Report: Highly Educated Immigrants Do Better in U.S. than Canada

First, list of detected linkable resources in order of appearance:
1. Express Entry page (uscis_resource) — appears as “Express Entry page” in the sentence: “Information for prospective applicants is available on Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Express Entry page…”
2. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Express Entry page (policy) — same sentence, refers to “Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Express Entry page”
3. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry.html (policy) — appears as the URL already present at the end of the article

Now the article with government .gov/.gc.ca links added. Per instructions, only link the first mention of each resource in the article body, use exact resource names, preserve all content and formatting, and keep existing links. I will add up to 5 links; here there are effectively two distinct resource names (both refer to the same Canadian government page). I will link the first occurrence of “Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Express Entry page” and the first occurrence of “Express Entry page” (they are the same resource name; linking each only once—must not link same resource twice—so I will link only the first of these two mentions). The explicit URL already present remains unchanged per preservation rules, but the linking criteria say to link only the first mention in article body text; the standalone URL is already linked and is the same .gc.ca link — preserve it. Therefore I will add one link: replace the first mention “Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Express Entry page” with an anchor to the exact resource name.

(UNITED STATES) Highly educated immigrants working in the United States generally earn more and find suitable jobs faster than their counterparts in Canada, according to comparative studies and recent reports that track employment status, earnings, and the match between education and work since the 1990s.

Researchers note the pattern holds even though Canada admits a larger share of university-educated newcomers. The core finding is simple: the U.S. labor market tends to place highly educated immigrants into roles that better match their degrees, and it pays them more—both in absolute terms and relative to native-born workers in each country.

Earnings and the university wage premium

The earnings difference shows up early in careers and continues over time. By the early 2000s, the university wage premium—the extra pay that university graduates receive compared to high school graduates—grew faster in the United States, especially for men.

• By 2005, the adjusted premium was far higher in the U.S. than in Canada.
• That gap did not close in later years; analysts reviewing outcomes into the 2020s report the United States kept its edge.
• In contrast, the Canadian premium for recent male arrivals narrowed, widening the cross-border gap for new arrivals with university degrees.

Employment rates and job–education match

Employment rates tell a similar story.

• Highly educated immigrants in the U.S. are more likely to be working than those in Canada.
• They are also more often in jobs that require their level of education.

In Canada, over-qualification—working in roles that do not require a degree or advanced training—appears more often. This problem:

• Affects fields with strict licensing rules such as medicine and engineering.
• Reaches well beyond regulated professions.
• Lowers pay, slows career growth, and weakens the promise that advanced education will raise earnings.

When people spend years earning a degree but end up in jobs that do not use those skills, it drags down pay, slows career growth, and weakens the promise that advanced education will lead to higher earnings.

Human impact: stories behind the data

The mismatch has a human cost. Studies include stories of foreign-trained professionals who arrive in Canada with degrees and experience but spend long stretches in survival jobs—driving a taxi, working in a warehouse, or doing shift work that keeps them afloat but off their trained track.

• These stories illustrate how over-qualification and underemployment play out in daily life.
• Similar stories exist in the U.S., but research finds them less common among highly educated immigrants there, who more often step into roles that reflect their training and are paid accordingly.

Why selection does not equal integration

Canada’s points-based system gives weight to education, language, and work history at selection, so one might expect better labor-market outcomes. The reality is more complicated.

• Canada admits a larger share of university-educated newcomers—roughly four in ten—compared with about two in ten in the United States.
• Yet employment hurdles in Canada blunt that educational edge. The most common hurdles include:
  • Non-recognition of foreign credentials
  • Requests for “Canadian experience”
  • Provincial licensing rules that vary by field and can take years to satisfy

Even when immigrants meet these requirements, their first job often is at a lower level than their background suggests.

By contrast, the U.S. benefits from market conditions that tend to absorb and reward advanced skills more quickly:

• Fewer barriers to recognizing foreign education and experience are reported in studies.
• Employer demand often places skill and productivity at the center of hiring and pay decisions.
• As a result, the U.S. integrates university-trained newcomers into degree-level roles at higher rates.

This does not mean the United States has solved every placement issue; rather, the overall system appears to match education to work more consistently.

Long-term trends and the “brain drain”

The long trend lines matter for families planning moves.

• In 1980, the university wage premium for new immigrants looked similar in both countries.
• By 2000 and later, the U.S. pulled ahead.
• By 2005, the adjusted premium was dramatically higher in the United States than in Canada.

According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, these differences help explain why the United States draws a large share of the global “brain drain”, attracting highly educated immigrants from around the world, including many who first studied or worked in Canada before moving south for better pay and faster job matches.

What helps explain the cross-border gap

Studies highlight several recurring themes:

1. Employer practices
   • In the U.S., employers often rely on performance signals—portfolio work, interviews, on-the-job trials—rather than formal local credentials alone.
2. Pay structures and demand
   • Pay responds to demand for advanced skills. Recent decades saw strong demand in several U.S. sectors that absorb university graduates.
3. Licensing and regulation in Canada
   • Licensing bodies (notably in medicine and engineering) often require local exams, supervised practice, and extra coursework. These steps protect the public but delay entry for skilled newcomers.

The persistence of over-qualification in Canada has been known for years and:

• Affects both men and women across age groups.
• Remains even when language skills are strong and degrees come from respected schools.
• Is partly about the first job—if the first job after arrival is below one’s education level, it becomes harder to climb back to degree-level work.

In the U.S., the first rung more often aligns with training, setting up better earnings and growth over time.

Recent outlook (2025) and policy implications

Recent commentary in 2025 suggests the gaps have not closed. While Canada has discussed ways to speed up foreign credential recognition and reduce “Canadian experience” barriers, evidence of a major shift is limited. Wage and employment gaps identified earlier still appear in recent reviews.

Policy implications:

• Selection vs. integration: Selection can be centralized and points-based (as in Canada), but integration depends on regulators, employers, and local labor markets.
• A national selection system cannot force provincial licensing bodies to change or compel firms to accept foreign experience.
• In the U.S., selection is often tied to employer demand and family connections, which can help move newcomers straight into roles that fit.

Practical measures that can help:

• Employers should focus on job-relevant skills and give candidates ways to demonstrate ability (trials, portfolios, probationary roles).
• Canadian licensing bodies can speed reviews and expand provisional licensing where safe.
• Community groups can connect newcomers to mentors familiar with the local market.

None of these steps erase the gap overnight, but they ease the path for people who arrive ready to contribute.

Practical advice for prospective immigrants

For readers planning their future, a few practical points follow from the evidence:

1. If you hold a degree and aim to work in a licensed field in Canada (e.g., medicine, engineering):
   • Prepare for local steps that can take months or years.
   • Budget time and money for exams and supervised practice.
2. If your field is not licensed but professional:
   • Be ready to show concrete results—projects, code, publications, patents—so employers can judge your skills without relying solely on local credentials.
3. If you have a choice between the U.S. and Canada:
   • The data suggest the U.S. offers a better chance of a degree-level first job and higher pay from the start.

Information for prospective applicants is available on Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Express Entry page, which explains the selection process and how Canada values education at the selection stage:
– https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry.html

Place matters, but the national picture persists

Labor markets vary by city and region. In Canada, some provinces and cities offer faster paths for certain occupations, while others remain slower. Likewise, some U.S. metros have dense professional networks that pull in degree holders quickly.

Still, the national picture across decades points the same way:

• On average, the United States has produced better employment and earnings outcomes for highly educated immigrants than Canada has, and the gap has not closed.

Conclusion: outcomes vs. openness

These outcomes shape long-term plans. People choose where to study, work, and raise families based in part on the first few years after arrival.

• When the first job matches your education, you build skills and a track record that boost future pay.
• When it does not, you can fall behind.

The research record since the 1990s underscores a consistent message: highly educated immigrants fare better in the United States on employment and earnings measures, and that pattern remained visible in reviews published in 2025.

Both countries benefit when immigrants can do the work they trained to do. For prospective migrants and policymakers alike, the evidence points to a clear lesson: selecting degree-holders is only half the task—ensuring they can quickly and fairly use their skills after arrival is essential to realizing the full benefit.