Assiniboine bucks outmigration trend

Assiniboine College graduates are building Manitoba’s population and
contributing to our economy.

Graduates surveyed nine months and four years following graduation are largely living in Manitoba—a stark
contrast to the broader provincial trend of youth outmigration, reported in Canada West Foundation’s
‘Finding Their Place’ report (released September 2024), which reported Manitoba experienced a net loss of
youth to interprovincial migration for the past decade.

Assiniboine grads show a significantly different pattern, with 96 per cent of graduates from 2023/24 living in
the province nine months after graduation. This is even more impressive considering only 71 per cent of total
graduates originated in Manitoba. That’s net population gain for Manitoba attributable to Assiniboine
College’s activities.

And, as time goes on, that story remains the same. Four years after graduation, 91 per cent of grads from
2020/21 remain in the province. Again, only 74 per cent of that graduating class were originally from
Manitoba.

That’s a net population gain for Manitoba as a result of studying at Assiniboine.

“Our programs are preparing people for Manitoba’s labour market,” said Mark Frison, President of
Assiniboine College. “That’s helping us retain this important youth population.”

Of graduates who are not originally from Manitoba, 94 per cent reported still living here nine months after
graduation and 97 per cent of graduates from Manitoba reported still living here nine months after
graduation—that’s attraction and retention.

Manitoba remains a desirable home for Assiniboine graduates—and consistently so. The five-year average of
graduates living in Manitoba four years after graduation is 89 per cent.

“It’s good news for graduates and good news for Manitoba, and helps illustrate that there are tangible
investments we can make to stem the tide of youth outmigration raised in the Canada West Report,” added
Frison. “We live in a part of Canada where you can afford to buy a house and raise a family. It’s great
environment for a new graduate with industry-ready training.”

In fact, 96 per cent of graduates from 2023/24 were employed nine months after graduation, making an
average of $54,500.

The survey of graduates from 2020/21, four years after graduation, showed that 96 per cent of graduates
were employed. These grads were also making a solid income and had seen income growth in the early years
of their career, with an average annual income of $64,500 —a 38% increase in average salary from when this
same group was surveyed three years ago.