Most Canadian Students Working Summer Jobs Still Short of University and College Costs, CIBC Study Finds

TORONTO — A recent study conducted for CIBC shows that while a majority of Canadian post-secondary students find paid work over the summer, those earnings often fall short of covering tuition and related college or university expenses.

The Leger online poll commissioned by CIBC surveyed 500 Canadian college and university students between July 11 and 17. According to the findings, 65 percent of respondents reported having a paying summer job, and most intend to use their summer income to help fund their education. Despite summer employment, 73 percent said they expect to need to continue working during the coming academic year to support their studies.

Among students who did secure summer employment, the bulk expected modest earnings: most anticipated taking home between $1,001 and $5,000 this summer, while roughly one in four expected earnings in the $5,001 to $10,000 range. Hourly pay was often limited, with 45 percent reporting wages of $11 per hour or less. In addition, 60 percent of working students were employed part-time, suggesting limited total hours available to substantially increase summer savings.

The survey also highlighted challenges for students seeking summer work: 20 percent said they had actively looked for summer employment but were unable to find a job. Ten percent reported not working at all for the summer, and five percent were engaged in volunteer or unpaid roles instead of paid positions. These figures underscore that while many students work to offset costs, a sizable portion are left without sufficient summer income.

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Why summer earnings often aren’t enough

Even when students secure summer jobs, earnings frequently cover only a fraction of the total cost of post-secondary education. Tuition, textbooks, housing, transportation and everyday living expenses add up quickly. The combination of low hourly wages and part-time hours limits how much students can realistically save during the break.

Practical advice from CIBC

Christina Kramer, executive vice president of retail and business banking at CIBC, emphasizes that summer income is an important component of many students’ overall education funding. She advises building a practical, realistic budget and sticking to it so summer dollars stretch further once the semester starts.

Specific recommendations reflected in the study include:

Create a clear budget that prioritizes tuition and essential living costs, then allocate remaining funds to savings or discretionary spending.
Track transactions and account balances in real time to avoid overdrafts and to see where money is being spent.
Use online budgeting tools or banking features that allow you to set spending limits for categories and receive alerts when you approach or exceed those limits.
Consider student-friendly bank accounts that typically offer unlimited free transactions and no monthly fees to minimize banking costs.

Interpreting the survey

The CIBC report is based on a non-random online survey of 500 students. The Marketing Research and Intelligence Association notes that online surveys cannot be assigned a traditional margin of error because they are not a random sample; as a result, the responses may not be fully representative of the entire population of Canadian college and university students. Nevertheless, the poll provides a useful snapshot of student employment patterns and financial pressures experienced during the summer.

Takeaway

For many Canadian students, summer work helps reduce the financial burden of post-secondary education but seldom covers all costs. Planning and careful money management—paired with the right banking products and tools—can help students extend their summer savings into the school year and make their available funds go further.