AI Is Changing How Students Weigh Computer Science Degrees

Summary

Artificial intelligence is prompting some Canadian high-school students to reconsider computer science degrees, even as universities argue that computing expertise will remain important. Mahimn Patel, an Ontario student with a 97 average and experience building AI projects, chose applied mathematics at the University of Toronto because he believes mathematics and physics will strengthen the independent reasoning needed to use AI effectively. Applications to undergraduate computer and information systems programs in Ontario fell to 45,260 in the latest admissions cycle, 44 per cent below the 2023 peak of just over 80,000; about 2,500 fewer students accepted offers to begin computer science degrees this fall than two years earlier. University officials attribute the shift partly to concern that AI can perform much of a junior software engineer’s work, alongside a difficult technology job market and, at some schools, international-student visa restrictions. The evidence does not show a uniform collapse in enrolment: Calgary’s computer science registration rose to 1,745 last fall from 1,483 three years earlier, while Alberta reported a 32.7 per cent increase across related undergraduate and graduate programs between 2020 and 2025. Calgary has lowered its entering average to 79.6 and added support for students, whereas Waterloo, McGill and Toronto continue to report strong or stable demand. Employment evidence is mixed. Statistics Canada found coding-intensive jobs grew at the same rate as other jobs between ChatGPT’s launch and December 2025, but gains were concentrated among workers aged 30 to 49; Stanford economists reported a 19 per cent employment gap for U.S. workers aged 22 to 25 in AI-exposed occupations. Researchers caution that layoffs also reflect pandemic over-hiring and broader economic conditions. Meanwhile, interest is shifting toward AI, data science and cybersecurity, and universities are adding related courses and programs. Computer science leaders say the field may regain appeal, as earlier technological disruptions ultimately created more computing jobs than they eliminated, but they acknowledge that the work students will do after graduation remains uncertain.