REGINA — The prospect that AI will revamp the entire job market landscape in the years ahead is creating major concerns among parents worried about whether their kids will be ready for it.
Canadian digital education savings and planning company Embark recently commissioned a survey in partnership with Angus Reid titled the Future Education & Career Paths Report.
The survey found only 20 per cent of Canadians think children are being properly prepared for the jobs that will exist in 2050.
A big factor in the survey findings is AI. When asked if children were prepared for the jobs of tomorrow, the gap was wide: 86 per cent of respondents agree the skills employers value will change significantly over the next 25 years, but only 20 per cent agree children are being prepared for the careers of 2050, while 57 per cent actively disagree.
The survey also found 80 per cent of Canadians agree they will need to invest more in education and training throughout their careers, not just at the start.
When asked about the cost and value of school, 82 per cent say they are concerned about the cost of post-secondary education, and 84 per cent say they are concerned AI will make degrees less valuable.
Fifty-nine per cent say they expect people will need to save more for post-secondary education because of AI, compared with just six per cent who expect they’ll need to save less. Respondents in Alberta, at 69 per cent, and Atlantic Canada, at 68 per cent, were the most likely in the country to expect they will need to save more.
Canadians also say they will not let AI choose their career path for them. The survey found 15 per cent would trust AI to make a career decision for them, and only one per cent would trust it completely.
The survey also found 61 per cent disagree that AI creates as many new job opportunities as it replaces. Of all the provinces, Saskatchewan respondents expressed this belief most strongly, at 75 per cent.
As for which type of education offered the best path toward a successful career, 50 per cent of respondents pointed to the trades path — trade school or an apprenticeship — as the best way to prepare a child for a successful career in 2050. Thirty-seven per cent pointed to a university path — an undergraduate, graduate or professional degree. The survey found support for trades peaking in British Columbia at 55 per cent and among Gen X at 48 per cent, while falling sharply among Gen Z at 22 per cent.
“What we're finding about parents' sentiments around kids in post-secondary is that more and more parents are starting to point them towards trades and apprenticeships instead of universities,” said Andrew Lo, CEO at Embark.
“And so parents are thinking that the trades might be the better opportunity given the changing landscape, especially in AI. The university path is still very valid, but it's become kind of a very close second-place follow-on in terms of sentiment for Canadians. I think the fact that the trades are more popular at the moment is because there isn't a direct connection or linkage between AI and taking away jobs in the trades. And so they're thinking that is a better position for their child, for their future.”
But Lo also points out that “Canada generally is in build mode, right? So we need more housing, health care and so on. And so the trades seem to be more of the immediate attraction because of the strong growth in those areas.”
As for the finding that only 20 per cent of Canadians think children are being properly prepared for jobs, Lo said that uncertainty is going to exist into the future.
“I don't think anyone really has a crystal ball in terms of what future careers could be,” Lo said.
“And the best thing to do is to give the kids optionality. And what I do every day is help parents financially prepare and save money so that they can afford their kids' education. And my advice around the uncertainty AI has created around future careers and jobs is that we want to be able to save enough money so that kids have the optionality to choose when it's time. So saving early is important. As a result of AI, the cost of education is going to go up, as well as regular costs due to inflation, etc. That's also driving the prices up. So saving enough also matters.”
Lo said his suggestion to parents is: “When you start saving for your kids' education, let the kids know as early as Grades 6, 7 and 8. Let them know that you believe in them and that they're going to have great careers and have that open discussion. When you have that open discussion that parents are going to be financially prepared to help their kids get to post-secondary, then the kids focus on, you know, ‘What am I going to do when I grow up?’ And maybe that's 18 years from now or 15 years from now, and who knows what the job market's going to look like.
“But, you know, when you're financially prepared, you can help your kids achieve their dreams through post-secondary and then through a great career afterwards.”
