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Revisiting Canada's Brain Drain: Evidence from the 2000 Cohort of Canadian University Graduates

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  • David Zarifa
  • David Walters

Abstract

Existing studies on Canada's brain drain have established the importance of income gains as a critical factor that motivates individuals to move to the United States. It remains unclear, however, how sizable the earnings gap may be for recent post-secondary graduates and whether or not this gap varies by the field of study of the most common drainers. Drawing on the most recent National Graduates Survey (NGS), this study compares the early labour market earnings of the 2000 cohort of university graduates who remained in Canada to their counterparts who obtained employment in the United States. Our results indicate that only a small proportion of this cohort migrated south of the border, yet the great majority of these migrants are heavily concentrated in only a few knowledge-economy fields. Annual earnings are significantly higher for all individuals who relocated to the United States. Moreover, these differences are most salient among undergraduate engineers and computer scientists.

Suggested Citation

  • David Zarifa & David Walters, 2008. "Revisiting Canada's Brain Drain: Evidence from the 2000 Cohort of Canadian University Graduates," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 34(3), pages 305-320, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:34:y:2008:i:3:p:305-320
    DOI: 10.3138/cpp.34.3.305
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    Cited by:

    1. Stephen Gordon, 2020. "The incidence of income taxes on high earners in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(2), pages 437-459, May.
    2. Conchi, Sonia & Michels, Carolin, 2014. "Scientific mobility: An analysis of Germany, Austria, France and Great Britain," Discussion Papers "Innovation Systems and Policy Analysis" 41, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    3. James (Jim) C. MacGee & Joel Rodrigue, 2024. "The Distributional Origins of the Canada-US GDP and Labour Productivity Gaps," Staff Working Papers 24-49, Bank of Canada.
    4. Brahim Boudarbat & Marie Connolly, 2013. "Brain Drain: Why Do Some Post-Secondary Graduates Choose to Work in the United States?," CIRANO Project Reports 2013rp-12, CIRANO.
    5. Wentian Shi & Debin Du & Wenlong Yang, 2019. "The Flow Network of Chinese Scientists and Its Driving Mechanisms Based on the Spatial Development Path of CAS and CAE Academicians," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-22, October.
    6. Gilles Grenier & Yi Zhang, 2016. "The “Negative” Assimilation of Immigrants: a Counter-Example from the Canadian Labor Market," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 263-286, September.
    7. Compton, Ryan & Sandler, Daniel & Tedds, Lindsay M., 2010. "Backdating, tax evasion, and the unintended consequences of Canadian tax reform," MPRA Paper 39788, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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