Studying in Canada? How to Choose a Career That Works With AI: Marija Pavkovic-Tovissi of MaKami College

Is College Still Worth It in the Age of AI?

In 2025, Statistics Canada reported that three in five workers in Canada are employed in occupations with a high potential for exposure to AI technologies (Statistics Canada, "Analysis on artificial intelligence use by businesses in Canada, second quarter of 2025," June 2025). That is the backdrop for the question every student and parent is asking. If the work is shifting this fast, does a college program still pay off?

Marija's answer on the episode is yes, with a condition. Education still teaches you how to learn, research and think, and those are the skills AI can't hand you. But a program that only delivers a fixed body of knowledge isn't enough. Institutions have to help learners build skills that complement AI, and learners have to keep adapting after graduation.

Here's the line I keep coming back to from this conversation: earning a credential is not the same as building a career. A qualification opens a door. What you do with the skills, the network and the judgment behind it decides whether you walk through. That's true with or without AI, but AI raises the stakes.

Credentials still carry weight in many fields, especially regulated ones where a recognized qualification is required before you can practise. So the useful question isn't "degree or no degree." It's "what will this pathway let me do, and how will it hold up as the technology changes?"

How Do You Choose a Career That Works Alongside AI?

In the second quarter of 2025, 12.2% of Canadian businesses reported using AI to produce goods or deliver services, up from 6.1% a year earlier (Statistics Canada, "Analysis on expected use of artificial intelligence by businesses in Canada, third quarter of 2025," September 2025). Adoption doubled in a year, yet most firms still aren't using it. The change is real, and it is early.

Marija calls the pace of AI a tsunami: exponential, hard to predict, and wide enough to reach almost every sector. Her example was the truck driver. If autonomous vehicles change that work, the people affected need accessible ways to retrain, not a four-year detour.

The employment picture so far is less dramatic than the headlines. Among businesses already using AI in the second quarter of 2025, 89.4% reported no change in employment levels, while 6.3% reported a decrease and 4.3% an increase (Statistics Canada, September 2025). Jobs are changing faster than headcounts are, which is why the skills you pair with AI matter more than the title you chase.

What to Weigh Before You Choose a Program

I'd add one more test from my own work with founders: talk to someone doing the job you want. Ten minutes with a practitioner tells you more about where a field is heading than any brochure. For the founder-side version of this question, see Skills Every Founder Is Getting Wrong Right Now.

Micro-Credentials, Shorter Programs and Retraining

One thread in the conversation is that shorter courses and micro-credentials could play a growing role (Real with Ritesh, October 2026). When the labour market shifts quickly, a focused program that gets someone into a high-demand role in months can be a smarter first step than a long program that was designed for a slower era.

This matters most for mid-career people. Someone with ten years in one field doesn't need to start from zero. They need a bridge that adds a current skill to the experience they already have. Fields like digital marketing, healthcare support and the trades came up as areas where shorter pathways can lead to work quickly.

A word of caution from me, not just the guest. Short doesn't automatically mean good. Ask what employers actually hire for, whether the program is recognized, and what happens to graduates. If a provider can't answer those questions plainly, keep looking.

Flexibility is the other half. Blended and online learning let people with jobs and family commitments study without pausing their lives. For international students, technology also changes the question of whether you must relocate at all, though you can lose some of the experience that comes from being in Canada and in the room.

What Newcomers Need to Know About Education and Work

In 2025, the C.D. Howe Institute reported that 26.7% of recent immigrants with a bachelor's degree or higher work in positions requiring only a high school diploma or less, and that overqualified immigrants earn about 46% less than non-immigrants working in their trained fields (C.D. Howe Institute, "Canada's Missed Opportunity: The Untapped Potential of Immigrant Talent," February 2025). Experience doesn't always travel with a person across a border.

Marija talked about this from the inside. Her family's immigrant story is part of why she believes education is a lever for generational change: the right credential can change a household's income, options and the opportunities open to the next generation. The same logic applies to experienced newcomers who need a pathway that recognizes what they already know.

The C.D. Howe memo names the usual hurdles: credential recognition, language, Canadian work experience, and licensing in regulated professions, particularly in health care. If you're a newcomer, that list is a useful checklist before you pick a program. Ask which of those barriers a pathway actually removes.

MaKami's approach to the human side stood out to me. Beyond the classroom, it builds in support such as counselling and help for language challenges, hidden disabilities and personal crises. Students who might otherwise drop out get a chance to finish with their confidence intact. Good education design includes empathy, and it shows up in retention.

This article is for education and information only. It is not immigration, legal, financial or individualized career advice. Admission requirements, program availability, costs and eligibility change, so confirm current details with the institution and the relevant authorities.

How Can You Use AI to Learn Without Letting It Think for You?

In a 2025 study of 666 participants, Michael Gerlich found that frequent AI users scored lower on critical-thinking assessments, with the strongest dependence among people aged 17 to 25 (Gerlich, "AI Tools in Society: Impacts on Cognitive Offloading and the Future of Critical Thinking," 2025). The tool is powerful. The habit around it is what decides whether it helps or hurts.

Marija framed it as the difference between learning and thinking. Used well, AI is a patient tutor. It can walk through the steps of a math problem until it finally clicks. Used badly, it's a shortcut that hands you an answer and skips the understanding. Same tool, opposite outcomes.

A simple rule works for students and career changers alike. Attempt the problem first. Then ask AI to explain where you went wrong, or to quiz you. Never submit work you couldn't explain out loud. Institutions have a role here too, because clear and ethical AI-use policies are still being written across the sector.

I covered the same trap from the job seeker's side in Careers in the Age of AI: Dave Murray on Youth Unemployment, where the advice was to treat AI like a junior analyst you manage, not a crutch.

Trusting Your Instincts When the Business Almost Closes

The last part of the episode turns personal. Marija described a difficult chapter when MaKami almost closed, and the challenge of disagreeing with family while making decisions that helped move it forward (Real with Ritesh, October 2026). It's a reminder that an institution is built by people who sometimes have to choose between comfort and the right call.

Her take on instinct is the one I'd pass along. A gut feeling isn't a mood or a guess. It's the sum of your experience, your knowledge and your read of the industry, compressed into a signal. Listen to it, then check it against data and advice. Neither one is enough alone.

She also described building lean: starting small, validating before scaling, and keeping debt low enough to pivot around obstacles. That works for a founder, and it works for a student too. A smaller, faster step you can afford to be wrong about beats a big bet you can't undo. For the founder-side playbook, read From Employee to Entrepreneur.

Frequently Asked Questions

The through-line of this conversation is that a credential is the start of the work, not the end of it. Choose a path that works with technology, keep your own thinking sharp, and match the program to the life you actually have.

Which matters most to you when choosing an education pathway: practical skills, career opportunities, cost, flexibility or the credential itself? Tell us on the episode's comment section. If you're building something in this space, apply to be a guest on Real with Ritesh or reach out directly.