Workplace competitiveness has made higher education, especially post-undergrad work, whether a graduate degree of a diploma or certificate augmentation to your degree very important to differentiate you from other candidates. In Canada, 53% of working age people have undergraduate degrees, so by virtue of the volume of degrees out there, they become a less certain indicator of ability or achievement. If you are competing against that pool with only a high school education, you will have to be exceptional in other areas to stand out. It can happen, especially in areas like sales, but it is becoming more and more frequent to find candidates who not only have the social skills and mindset for a job, but also have higher education and often post undergraduate work to go with it.