Everyone’s saying it, and I’m living it. The most educated cohort in history is also the most chronically underemployed. It can take years for current grads to land a job in their field—and that’s if they’re lucky. I’m one of the displaced. I’m nearing 30 years old, living in a one-bedroom apartment in Montreal with my wife, and I’ve spent more than eight years in school all in order to break into the industry that I’m now, by every measure, more than qualified for. I have two master’s degrees, a strong GPA from one of Canada’s top universities and years of experience in the field. Yet, since August of last year, I’ve sent more than 100 job applications—not one has led to even an entry-level interview on Bay Street.

While the Canadian labour market is steady, in July of 2025 Statistics Canada reported that among youth who want to work, about one in seven can’t find a job. Nationwide, nearly one in four unemployed Canadians have been job-hunting for more than half a year, the highest level of long-term unemployment since 1998. We’ve invested more time, energy and money into finding work, but the return on investment has virtually disappeared. A university education used to be a golden ticket to a stable, high-paying career, but now there are too many qualified grads crowding the market.

AI can also perform tasks junior employees used to do, and at a fraction of the speed and cost. As employers automate entry-level work, there’s less and less chance for new grads like me to get their foot in the door. I’m in finance. That used to be a surefire career path. But the industry is shrinking. Even though the TSX is doing well, businesses are cutting staff drastically and using AI to do the work of entire departments. Before AI, financial institutions employed 2,000 to 3,000 people to generate $1 billion in revenue. When ChatGPT-5 rolled out, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman predicted a future where a single person could build a billion-dollar company. In mid July, Microsoft released a report showing that AI can now replace about 75 per cent of analysts.

I fought hard to get into this field. In 2019, I graduated university with an optics and laser engineering bachelor’s degree back in Iran, where I’m from. But my true passion was business and finance. I started as an assistant to the finance manager at a small import-export company specializing in dental equipment,........

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