Maritime university graduates finding jobs at home, finds survey

University graduates from the Maritimes are just as likely to be working two years after they are done school whether they stay at home or move away, according to a survey released Tuesday.

The survey, sponsored by the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission, reached out to 2012 graduates, checking up on them two years later. It found 61 per cent of those living in the Maritimes had found work, and 60 per cent of those living outside the Maritimes had.

The difference is within the 2.1 per cent margin of error in the survey.

"The anecdotes about new graduates leaving the Maritimes for better employment opportunities just do not tell the whole story," said MPHEC CEO Mireille Duguay.

Of those not working most were pursuing further studies. Only six per cent of those in the Maritimes were not studying or working, compared to nine per cent of those living away.

Provincial differences

In New Brunswick and Nova Scotia rates for working or studying were similar whether graduates stayed or left, with New Brunswick leaning a little towards a higher likelihood of working if graduates stayed home.

P.E.I. graduates showed a significantly higher chance of working, as opposed to studying, if they stayed on the Island. Almost two thirds of graduates who stayed in the province were working two years later, and just over 40 per cent of those who left were.

In all three provinces, whether student moved away or not, more than 90 per cent were either working or back at school.

The survey reached 2,187 students online and by phone between Sept. 30 and Dec. 1, 2014.

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