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When it comes to predicting the future income and employment status of Canadians, which has more influence: skills, such as literacy and numeracy, or postsecondary credentials? This report concludes that skills and credentials are both important predictors of an individual's labour market outcomes. Literacy and numeracy skills are strong predictors of both income levels and employment status, whereas credentials appear to have a significant effect on earnings alone. According to the study, numeracy appears to be a stronger predictor of earnings and employment status than literacy skills. It found that an increase in numeracy proficiency from Level 1 to Level 2 as measured by the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies resulted in higher earnings, while only higher levels of literacy, Level 3 and above, boosted earnings. Similarly, increasing numeracy across any level improved the odds of an individual being employed full time, while only higher-level increases in literacy resulted in the same outcome. The authors suggest that students may wish to focus not only on fulfilling their degree and diploma requirements, but also taking advantage of additional opportunities to improve their literacy, numeracy and other skills such as verbal communication and teamwork. They note that these can be acquired in the classroom as well as through co-ops, internships and other work-integrated learning opportunities.

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New postsecondary graduates seeking entry into the Canadian workforce may experience more favourable labour market outcomes if they augment their education with job-related training. Employers, looking for new ways of differentiating among equally credentialed prospects, may prefer job candidates with practical training. These new realities have led to a steady increase in the availability and popularity of cooperative education programmes in Canadian colleges and universities. Few existing studies, however, have sought to examine whether or not earnings premiums or employment advantages exist for coop graduates. This paper compares the earnings and employment outcomes of postsecondary graduates with coop credentials to those with traditional, non-coop credentials. Even once controlling for a number of factors, coop programmes provide the greatest advantage at the university level, particularly among male graduates. In terms of employment status, college males and university females experienced the greatest advantages to attending coop programmes.

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