I used to tell my friend this and she was positive she'd never earn more than $50K CAD/year, and always said I was overpaid as a developer making ~$70K/year at the time. These days she has advanced far more than I have, and she'll continue to. Even as a developer with no education or particularly special skills, your ceiling in Canada isn't all that high. I'm the epitome of a 1xer though, so I can't speak for everyone. I can earn around $90k, but she's earning $120k now – that only took about 7 years for a 240% increase. Having an education can be a huge asset to your career, and she couldn't have her career without hers.