Data Sciences Archives - SRDC

Mobile Students and the Labour Market

Wallaa Daramlly — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 16:22:18 +0000

Individuals enter postsecondary education (PSE) through diverse pathways and life situations. Many students transition to PSE directly after completing high school, while others take “gap” years to work or travel. Mature students enter new PSE programs with a wide range of prior experiences, whether gained through years in the workforce or periods of unemployment. The prior experiences of students shape the programs and fields of study they pursue, whether and how they transition between programs and institutions, and their later education and labour market outcomes.

In this project, the education and employment histories of students are sequenced to better understand patterns of mobility and how they relate to a range of education and employment outcomes. The study uses linked administrative data to follow cohorts of students from when they transition into PSE to assess how their level of mobility, both prior to beginning an education spell and during their time spent in school, is associated with these outcomes.

This project aligns with ONCAT’s mandate to support learner mobility in Ontario through collaboration with postsecondary institutions to develop transfer pathways, streamline credit transfer processes, and facilitate transitions to the labour market.

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Exploring Co-op Participation, Schooling and Labour Market Outcomes Using Longitudinal Linked Administrative Data

Wallaa Daramlly — Sat, 28 Feb 2026 15:44:16 +0000

SRDC aims to expand understanding of work‑integrated learning (WIL) in Canada by examining co‑op participation and its relationship to students’ postsecondary and early career pathways. Using the Education and Labour Market Longitudinal Platform, the project analyzes British Columbia’s postsecondary system – one of the few jurisdictions with reliable PSIS co‑op reporting and linked K‑12 data – offering a rare opportunity to study one aspect of WIL participation at scale. We assess the reliability and consistency of the PSIS co‑op indicator in BC and in selected Ontario institutions, supported by a sensitivity test using WIL data from the National Graduates Survey. We then examine who participates in co‑op and explore associations between co‑op, postsecondary persistence, and early labour market outcomes.

Overall, the aim is to: 1) demonstrate what can be learned from this WIL indicator in linked administrative data, 2) provide HEQCO with new insights into student pathways and outcomes, and 3) highlight opportunities to strengthen Ontario’s WIL data infrastructure.

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BC Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB) Research Project

Wallaa Daramlly — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 13:32:33 +0000

The Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB) in the Ministry of Public Safety oversees the regulation and licensing of alcohol in British Columbia. A core objective of LCRB is to foster a progressive and well-balanced alcohol regulatory framework that nurtures a vibrant industry while minimizing the adverse impacts of alcohol on health and public safety. The aim of this research project is to create an evidence-informed decision-making model that balances the needs for a modernized alcohol licensing system that promotes public health and safety, supports responsible consumption, fosters economic growth, and adapts to the evolving needs of society. Beyond its immediate application within the context of alcohol regulation in BC, the project aims to benefit local governments and other alcohol regulators in Canada to enhance decision-making processes more broadly. This research follows four key phases. First, a comprehensive needs analysis will set the groundwork by assessing the existing policy landscape. Next, SRDC will collaborate with LCRB and other interested and affected parties to design a decision-making model and tools, making recommendations to bridge measurement gaps and enhance coordination. The intention is to follow this with a rigorous validation process and to test the model’s effectiveness and usability, refining it for full implementation.

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Developing the Next Generation of Skilled Trades Workers in Advanced Manufacturing

Wallaa Daramlly — Thu, 11 May 2023 13:18:42 +0000

According to the Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium (EMC), Canadian manufacturing is changing at a rapid rate. In addition to workers retiring, there is a growing need to support the technological adoption occurring in advanced manufacturing. Skilled tradespeople are in high demand and will continue to be at an increasing rate, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the needs to minimize supply chain disruptions and emphasizes the opportunities to strengthen Canadian production. This project designs, implements, and evaluates a pre-apprenticeship program customized to the advanced manufacturing sector. The program provides youth aged 15 to 29 with technical and experiential learning, delivered through online self-directed modules and hands-on practical work placement with employers for up to 16 weeks. SRDC leads the evaluation to examine the extent to which the program responds to current labour market needs while setting the foundation for an apprenticeship pathway in manufacturing in the long term.

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Improving Understanding of the Canada Learning Bond

Wallaa Daramlly — Tue, 04 Apr 2023 15:28:04 +0000

The Canada Learning Bond (CLB) is a potential contribution of up to $2,000 per child from the federal government to the Registered Education Savings Plans of children from low-income families. It can be used to offset the costs of the child’s later study in apprenticeship programs, CEGEPs, trade schools, colleges, and universities. This project sets out to better understand the CLB by answering three research questions concerned with variation in access by birth cohort, household income, and geographical factors, as well as the degree to which CLB is associated with overall and education-specific savings behaviour among parents.

The three questions are:

What is the allocation of CLB funds to families by birth cohort and household income?
What can current data tell us about the catalytic impact of the CLB on education savings, broken down by birth cohort and household income?
What are the specific barriers to accessing the CLB among rural Canadians?

SRDC is analyzing data from Statistics Canada including the Survey of Approaches to Educational Planning, Canada Education Savings Program files linked to the 2016 Census and a potential second linkage focused on the Longitudinal Administrative Database.

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Postsecondary Pathways and Outcomes of International Students in Ontario

Wallaa Daramlly — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 11:25:04 +0000

As part of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario’s Consortium on International Education, SRDC is analyzing the pathways of select cohorts of incoming international students to Ontario, to identify trends over time in the composition of students and their schooling, migration, and labour market outcomes whether they attended public institutions or not. Specifically, the proposed project would contribute new information on the relationship of various student, program, and immigration characteristics to each outcome of interest to HEQCO and the Consortium.

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Survey for the Evaluation of the Apprenticeship Grants (AG) Program

Wallaa Daramlly — Mon, 28 Nov 2022 18:11:57 +0000

This project involves the design, development, pilot-testing, implementation, and analysis of a survey as part of the Apprenticeship Grants (AG) evaluation. The AG program provides grants to apprentices in designated Red Seal trades to pay for tuition, travel, tools, and other related expenses. It consists of the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant (AIG), the Apprenticeship Completion Grant (ACG), and the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant for Women (AIG-W). The survey examines the net impacts of the AG program on the entry, progression, certification, and labour market attachment of apprentices. The data collected also contribute to the first formative evaluation of the AIG-W, which was introduced as a five-year pilot in 2018. Through a Gender-based Analysis plus (GBA+) lens, the analysis of the survey data aims to assess the extent to which the AIG-W helps reduce financial barriers to apprenticeship for women in male-dominated Red Seal trades. The project also examines the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on apprentices’ experience with the AG application process, as well as on their labour market outcomes beyond the program.

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Effects of Student and Family Background Characteristics on Post-Secondary Education Access, Persistence, and Completion and Labour Market Outcomes in British Columbia

Wallaa Daramlly — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 15:41:29 +0000

Supporting young Canadians to realize their maximum potential is a widely embraced political aim, regardless of whether the ultimate objective is enhancing economic growth, fostering innovation and competitiveness, social inclusion, or reducing social and health disparities.

Most individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds need to embark on post-secondary education, which may include trades, college, or university, to excel in the global knowledge-driven economy. While many encounter barriers on their educational and labour market journeys, policymakers lack detailed information about the specific obstacles faced, where they arise, and which students are most at risk.

To identify trends and potential barriers in education and labour market outcomes over the early life course, this research examined how early student, schooling, family, and neighbourhood characteristics relate to: entering post-secondary education (PSE), completing a PSE credential, earnings levels among PSE graduates, and labour market entry and earnings of those who did not pursue further schooling after high school.

To learn more about key findings, read or download the full report.

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Health and Criminal Justice Outcomes of Furthering Education

Wallaa Daramlly — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 20:01:49 +0000

The Future to Discover (FTD) study, initiated in 2004, aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of two early high school programs designed to address barriers that hinder students’ access to post-secondary education (PSE).

These barriers include uncertainty about career options, misconceptions about PSE, and limited financial resources.

The report “Health and Criminal Justice Outcomes of Furthering Education” provides an update on the previous estimates of the impact of FTD on educational and employment outcomes, and explores how this study can contribute to our understanding of the relationship between education, health, and criminal justice.

We encourage you to download this report and SRDC’s previous FTD reports to learn more about key findings.

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2S/LGBTQ+ Populations in the Trades in Canada: Exploratory Insights

U7 Solutions — Fri, 15 Jul 2022 23:09:24 +0000

Skilled trades are a key component of the Canadian economy; over 3 million Canadians (or 17% of labour force) work in the skilled trades. A number of equity-deserving groups are however under-represented in the skilled trades, including the 2SLGBTQ+ population. Knowledge of the employment patterns of LGBTQ2S+ people in the skilled trades in Canada is currently limited. Very little is known, for example, about the employment patterns, such as income, employment status, hours worked as well as education, general health, work stress characteristics of 2SLGBTQ+ individuals employed in the trades. There is also a gap in our understanding of the perceptions of and available supports for 2SLGBTQ+ populations in the trades among the key stakeholders in Canada.

Given these research and data gaps, a better understanding of the current realities of this population with respect to working in the trades is important for evidence-based policy considerations. This project uses a mixed-methods approach, combining multi-cycle data from the Canadian Community Health Survey along with stakeholder interviews, to address the following questions:

(1) What are the employment patterns and socio-demographic profiles of lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations in the trades in Canada? And
(2) What are the perceptions of key stakeholders in terms of the experiences, barriers, and available supports for 2SLGBTQ+ individuals in the trades?

The findings from this project will be used to provide ESDC with insights and recommendations with respect to the participation of 2SLGBTQ+ populations in the trades, with a particular emphasis of further areas for research and data development.

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