Canada received an A grade in the education and skills category in a Conference Board of Canada report released last week, second only to Finland. But when it comes to PhD graduates, we rank dead last among 17 peer countries. “How Canada Performs: A Report Card on Canada” assesses Canada’s quality of life. Canada scored well in 14 of 15 education performance indicators, but it is one of nine countries to receive a D grade for schooling PhDs.

For every 100,000 people aged 25 to 29 in Canada, 209 graduate with a PhD, compared to 289 in the U.S., a fellow D-lister. Sweden, the leading country for PhD graduates, has three and a half times Canada’s PhD graduation rate. In 2007, the number of PhD graduates in Canada increased by eight per cent, but it wasn’t enough to bump the country up a grade in the standings.

“The failure to fund world-class universities is one explanation for Canada’s comparative weaknesses in high-level academic achievement—and its associated weaknesses in innovation,” reads the report. “Furthermore, Canada offers fewer employment and pay incentives than do other countries to encourage students to pursue doctoral studies.

At December’s Governing Council meeting, VP and provost Cheryl Misak had proposed replacing PhD enrollment spots with Master’s spots. Asked to respond to the report, Misak said, “The gap between Canada and our comparators is even larger when it comes to MA recipients. So we need to increase the number of both MA and PhD students.” According to Misak, U of T has seen a “massive expansion” in PhD spots over the last few years and now needs to respond to the demand for MA spots.

Glen A. Jones, U of T associate dean and chair on postsecondary education and measurement, said the McGuinty government has emphasized increasing PhD students. “I’m not sure how much of a big impact that will have nationally,” he said. “We’ve used immigration as a way of increasing the number of individuals with high-level degrees,” Jones added, referring to census data that showed the majority of people with PhDs in Canada are not native to the country.