Education in Canada: Attainment, Field of Study and Location of Study

Highlights

Highest level of educational attainment

• New data from the National Household Survey (NHS) show that 11,782,700 or 64.1% of adults aged 25 to 64 had postsecondary qualifications in 2011.

• Young women aged 25 to 34 held a larger share of university degrees (59.1%), compared with their share of 47.3% among the older age group of 55 to 64.

• Almost 8 in 10 Registered Apprenticeship certificates were held by men. Registered Apprenticeship certificate includes those with a Certificate of Qualification/Journeyperson's designation.

Major field of study

• The most common major field of study for adults aged 25 to 64 with either a college diploma or university degree was 'business, management, marketing and related support services.'

• Fewer young people aged 25 to 34 had a trades certificate or college diploma in 'mechanic and repair technologies/technicians,' 'precision production' and 'construction trades' compared with older adults aged 55 to 64. Examples of workers in 'precision production' are machinists, sheet metal workers and welders.

• In 2011, 2,196,200 adults had a postsecondary certificate, diploma or degree in 'science and technology,' 'engineering and engineering technology' or 'mathematics and computer sciences.' These fields of study are referred to as STEM and they represented 18.6% of all fields of study.

• Women held a higher share of university degrees among younger STEM graduates than among older ones but men still held the majority of university STEM degrees.

• Half of STEM university degrees were held by immigrants, including those who have lived in Canada for many years, as well as newcomers to Canada.

Location of study

• At 86.4%, trades certificate holders were the most likely to have studied in their province or territory of residence, higher than those with college diplomas (82.5%) and university degrees (62.3%).

• Adults with a university degree were more likely to have studied outside of Canada (25.5%) than those with a college diploma (8.5%) or a trades certificate (6.5%).

• In 2011, 41.9% of doctorate degree holders reported they had completed their credential outside of Canada.

Provinces, territories and census metropolitan areas

• In 2011, just over 1 in 5 Registered Apprenticeship certificate holders resided in Alberta, Saskatchewan or Yukon. These three provinces or territories accounted for 21.3% of all Registered Apprenticeship certificate holders, while accounting for 14.1% of the national population aged 25 to 64.

• Census metropolitan areas had higher proportions of adults with university degrees and lower proportions of people with a trades certificate.

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Highest level of educational attainment

Almost two-thirds of adult Canadians had postsecondary qualifications

New data from the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) show that 11,782,700 or 64.1% of adults aged 25 to 64 had postsecondary qualifications. In comparison, the 2006 Census reported 60.7% of Canadians aged 25 to 64 with a postsecondary qualification.

According to the 2011 NHS, 25.9% of adults had a university degree^{Footnote 1} compared with the 22.9% that were enumerated in the 2006 Census. The proportion of adults with a college diploma was 21.3% in 2011 and 20.3% in the 2006 Census. In 2011, 12.1% of adults had a trades certificate compared with 12.4% in the 2006 Census.

The proportion of the adult population with a high school diploma as the highest level of educational attainment was 23.2% in the 2011 NHS, whereas this proportion was 23.9% in 2006. In 2011, 12.7% of adults had no certificate, diploma or degree compared with 15.4% in the 2006 Census.

Women held a higher share of university degrees among younger graduates than among older ones

In 2011, women accounted for over half (53.7%) of university degree holders aged 25 to 64. The proportions of various university degrees by gender are examined between two age groups to see how the shares have evolved.

Women accounted for 59.1% of young adults aged 25 to 34 with a university degree. This was higher than the 47.3% share they represented among older university degree holders aged 55 to 64.

Among all university degrees, the difference between the share of younger and older women was the largest for those with a medical degree. Women represented nearly two-thirds (62.2%) of adults aged 25 to 34 with a medical degree but just over one quarter (28.0%) among those aged 55 to 64 with a medical degree.

Nearly half (47.3%) of adults aged 25 to 34 with an earned doctorate were women, whereas this share was about one-third (31.6%) in the older age group (55 to 64). This was the only university degree held mostly by men among younger graduates.

Women accounted for 58.1% of adults aged 25 to 34 with a master's degree compared with 45.4% among adults aged 55 to 64 with the same credentials. The share of bachelor's degrees held by women was 59.1% in the 25 to 34 age group compared with 49.3% among adults with a bachelor's degree aged 55 to 64.

Almost 8 in 10 Registered Apprenticeship certificates were held by men

In 2011, among adults aged 25 to 34 with a Registered Apprenticeship certificate, 78.9% were men. This was virtually unchanged from the age group 55 to 64, among whom men accounted for 80.1% of those with a Registered Apprenticeship certificate. Common fields of study associated with this type of certification are 'electrician,' and 'plumbing technology/plumber.'^{Footnote 2}

The proportion of 'trades certificates other than Registered Apprenticeship certificates'^{Footnote 3} held by men was similar between the two age groups. In 2011, men accounted for about 55% of these certificates among adults in either age group. Common fields of study associated with this type of certification are 'hair styling/stylist and hair design' and 'cooking and related culinary arts.'^{Footnote 4}

The shares at the college level were also similar: women accounted for 55.8% of college graduates aged 25 to 34 and 57.6% of college graduates aged 55 to 64.

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Major field of study

'Business, management, marketing and related support services' was the most common major field of study for both college and university graduates

The 2011 NHS collected information on the major field of study^{Footnote 5} of postsecondary graduates' highest completed credential.

The top 10 trades fields of study accounted for a larger proportion of all trades fields than did the top 10 fields at the college or university level. At the trades level, the top 10 fields accounted for 92.2% of all trades fields of study compared with 79.6% accounted for by the top 10 at the college level and 75.6% by the top 10 at the university level.

In 2011, the most common major field of study for adults aged 25 to 64 with a college diploma or a university degree was 'business, management, marketing and related support services' with 18.0% reporting this field of study at the university level and 27.1% at the college level. This field of study was also the fourth most commonly reported field of study for those with a trades certificate, at 11.4%.

'Mechanic and repair technologies/technicians' was the most frequently reported field of study for those with trades certificates and the fifth most commonly reported field of study at the college level.

The field of study 'health professions and related programs' ranked among the top five fields of study at all three postsecondary levels.

'Computer and information sciences and support services' was the fourth most commonly studied field among college graduates (5.3%) and the seventh among adults with a university degree (3.4%).

Fewer young adults had a trades certificate or college diploma in fields such as 'mechanic and repair technologies/technicians,' 'precision production' and 'construction trades'

In 2011, among young adults aged 25 to 34, a lower proportion (10.7%) had a trades certificate compared with adults with such a certificate aged 55 to 64 (12.8%). On the other hand, among the young adults aged 25 to 34, a higher proportion (31.9%) had a university degree compared with adults aged 55 to 64 (20.2%). The proportion of college graduates was also higher at 22.1% among adults aged 25 to 34 compared with 18.3% among those aged 55 to 64. Among the three postsecondary credentials, trades certificate was the only one with a smaller proportion of younger adults compared with older adults.

In this section, the number^{Footnote 6} of younger people aged 25 to 34 in the top 10 trades fields is compared with the number^{Footnote 6} of older people aged 55 to 64 to see if there were as many young people entering into these fields as there were older people who were approaching or who had entered retirement.

In 2011, there were 67,680 young adults aged 25 to 34 with a trades certificate in 'mechanic and repair technologies/technicians' compared with 104,200 older adults aged 55 to 64. In other words, there were 36,530 (35.0%) fewer young people with a trades certificate in 'mechanic and repair technologies/technicians' compared with the older age group. The difference between the number of adults aged 25 to 34 and 55 to 64 who studied 'mechanic and repair technologies/technicians' is shown in Table 3.

Similarly, there were 38,445 young adults aged 25 to 34 with a college diploma in 'mechanic and repair technologies/technicians' compared with 40,135 older adults aged 55 to 64. There were therefore 1,690 fewer young people with a college diploma in 'mechanic and repair technologies/technicians' compared with the older age group.

Among those with a trades certificate in 'precision production,'^{Footnote 7} there were 12,925 (21.7%) fewer young people compared with the older age group. 'Precision production' is a field of study which prepares individuals with technical knowledge and skills in creating products using precision crafting and technical illustration. Examples of such trades people are machinists, sheet metal workers and welders.^{Footnote 8}

There were also 5,600 (6.3%) fewer young people with a trades certificate in 'construction trades' compared with their older counterparts. In both 'precision production' and 'construction trades,' there were also slightly fewer young people with a college diploma compared with older ones.

The situation for the fields of 'mechanic and repair technologies/technicians,' 'precision production' and 'construction trades' is different from 'business, management, marketing and related support services' and 'health professions and related programs' which also saw fewer young trades and college graduates compared with their older counterparts. However, in the latter two fields of study, younger graduates outnumbered older graduates at the university level, offsetting the fewer numbers at the trades and college levels.

For example, as shown in Table 3, there were 34,760 fewer young adults aged 25 to 34 with a trades certificate and 17,455 fewer young adults with a college diploma in 'business, management, marketing and related support services' than adults aged 55 to 64. However, young adults aged 25 to 34 outnumbered adults aged 55 to 64 at the university level in 'business, management, marketing and related support services' by 134,745.

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Fields of study – STEM

This section focuses on the STEM fields of study, which include 'science and technology,'^{Footnote 9} 'engineering and engineering technology' and 'mathematics and computer sciences.'

According to the 2011 NHS, 2,196,200 people aged 25 to 64 had earned their highest certificate, diploma or degree in a STEM field, representing 18.6% of postsecondary fields overall. The proportion of credentials in STEM is higher at the university level than the postsecondary level overall and it is especially high at the doctorate level.^{Footnote 10} At the university level, STEM fields represented 24.5% of all fields of study, 53.5% among earned doctorates (PhDs) and 25.8% among master's degrees.^{Footnote 10}

Women held a higher share of university degrees among younger STEM graduates than among older ones but men still held the majority of university STEM degrees

In 2011, men represented the majority (67.4%) of adults aged 25 to 64 with STEM degrees at the university level. In comparison, among adults with a non-STEM university degree, 6 in 10 (60.6%) were women.

While women aged 25 to 64 represented slightly less than one-third (32.6%) of those with a university STEM degree in that age group overall, younger women held a higher share compared with older women. Young women aged 25 to 34 represented 39.1% of university STEM degrees in that age group, higher than the share of 22.6% in the older age group of 55 to 64. In non-STEM fields, younger women's share of university degrees was 65.7% compared with 53.6% in the older age group.

In the STEM fields of 'science and technology,' younger women held the majority (58.6%) of university degrees compared with the share of 34.9% by older women. Within the 'science and technology' category, younger women held a larger share of both 'biological and biomedical sciences' degrees and 'physical sciences' degrees compared with older women. Women's share of university degrees in 'biological and biomedical sciences' was almost two-thirds (64.2%) in the younger group aged 25 to 34, compared with 40.4% in the older group aged 55 to 64. In the 'physical sciences' field, the share of women in the younger age group was 41.3%, also higher than in the older age group where their share was 21.5%.

Younger women also held a higher (23.1%) share of university degrees in 'engineering'^{Footnote 11} compared with the share of 8.5% by older women. In 'mathematics and computer sciences,' women's shares were similar in the younger and older age groups at 30.4% and 29.3% respectively.

Immigrants represented about half of university STEM degree holders

In 2011, immigrant adults aged 25 to 64 represented just under one-quarter (24.6%) of Canada's adult population^{Footnote 12}  but over one-third (34.3%) of adults with a university degree. About half (50.9%) of all STEM degrees were held by immigrant adults, including those who have lived in Canada for many years, as well as newcomers to Canada.

Within STEM, immigrants accounted for 59.3% of 'engineering'^{Footnote 11} degrees, 55.7% of 'mathematics and computer sciences' degrees and 39.0% of 'science and technology' degrees.

Just over one-third (34.0%) of immigrant university graduates with a STEM degree had completed their degree in Canada.

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Location of study

Just over 4 in 10 doctorate degrees were completed outside of Canada

The 2011 NHS collected information on the location of study (province, territory or country) of the highest postsecondary credential obtained.

In 2011, 8,694,000 or 73.8% of adults aged 25 to 64 with a postsecondary qualification had studied in the province or territory in which they resided in 2011, while 9.9% had studied in another province or territory and 16.3% had studied in another country. Among those who studied in another country, 8 out of 10 (83.6%) were immigrants and 7.5% were non-permanent residents.^{Footnote 13}

Canadian-born people who studied abroad^{Footnote 14} were most likely to have studied in the United States (70.1%), the United Kingdom (12.5%) and Australia (5.7%).

Adults with a university degree were more likely to have studied outside of Canada than those with a college diploma or trades certificate. Among adults aged 25 to 64 with a university degree, 25.5% had studied outside of Canada, three times higher than those with a college diploma (8.5%) and four times higher than adults with a trades certificate (6.5%).

University degree holders were also more likely (12.2%) to have studied in another province or territory than college diploma holders (9.1%) or trades certificate holders (7.1%). Among university graduates, doctorate degree holders in 2011 were more likely to have completed their credential in another country (41.9%) compared with those with a bachelor's degree (21.0%) or a master's degree (33.8%).

At 86.4%, trades certificate holders were the most likely to have studied in their province or territory of residence, higher than college diploma (82.5%) and university degree (62.3%) holders.

The provinces or territories with the highest proportions of adults who earned their postsecondary qualification in the same province or territory as they resided in 2011 were Quebec (86.6%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (85.6%).

The provinces or territories with the highest rate of people who earned their postsecondary qualification in a province or territory other than where they lived in 2011 were Yukon (65.9%), Northwest Territories (65.5%), Nunavut (57.1%), Prince Edward Island (29.4%) and Alberta (20.5%).

The highest proportions of adults who earned their postsecondary credential outside of Canada was among those who lived in British Columbia (22.2%), Ontario (20.8%) and Alberta (17.2%).

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Provinces, territories and census metropolitan areas

Just over 1 in 5 Registered Apprenticeship certificate holders resided in Alberta, Saskatchewan or Yukon

In 2011, among the adult population aged 25 to 64, the provinces or territories with the highest proportions of university degree holders were Ontario (28.9%), British Columbia (27.3%) and Yukon (25.8%). Ontario and British Columbia had proportions of university degree holders higher than the national average of 25.9%.

In 2011, Alberta (7.6%), Saskatchewan (7.0%) and Yukon (6.9%) had the highest proportions of the adult population with a Registered Apprenticeship certificate. These three provinces or territories accounted for 21.3% of all Registered Apprenticeship certificate holders, while accounting for 14.1% of the national population aged 25 to 64.

The provinces or territories with the highest proportions of people with a 'trades certificate other than a Registered Apprenticeship certificate' were Quebec (13.7%),^{Footnote 15} Newfoundland and Labrador (8.8%) and Nova Scotia (7.8%). Quebec accounted for almost 46% of all of these certificate holders.

In 2011, the provinces or territories with the highest proportions of the population with no certificate, diploma or degree were Nunavut (46.0%), Northwest Territories (21.6%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (20.3%).

Census metropolitan areas had higher proportions of adults with university degrees and lower proportions of people with a trades certificate

Census metropolitan areas (CMAs) had higher proportions of people with university degrees (30.9%) and lower proportions of people with a trades certificate (10.1%), compared with the national averages for university degrees (25.9%) and trades certificates (12.1%).

In 2011, 70.1% of adults aged 25 to 64 lived in a CMA. Adults living in these areas accounted for 83.6% of all university degree holders, 69.0% of those with a college diploma and 58.7% of those with a trades certificate.

Among the six largest CMAs (Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Ottawa - Gatineau, Calgary and Edmonton), Ottawa - Gatineau had the largest proportion of adults with a university degree at 38.2%, followed by Toronto at 36.8% and Calgary at 34.8%. Ottawa - Gatineau had the largest proportion of adults with a university degree among all CMAs.

The CMA with the largest proportion of college graduates was Greater Sudbury at 31.6%, followed by Oshawa at 30.7% and Barrie at 29.6%.

The CMA with the largest proportion of Registered Apprenticeship certificate holders was Kelowna at 7.8%, followed by Edmonton at 7.7% and Saguenay at 7.2%.

The top CMAs with the largest proportions of those with 'trades certificates other than Registered Apprenticeship certificates' were all in Quebec^{Footnote 15}: Saguenay at 21.0%, Trois-Rivières at 16.1% and Sherbrooke at 15.1%. Among the six largest CMAs, Montréal had the highest proportion of 'trades certificates other than Registered Apprenticeship certificates' at 10.6%.

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Additional information

Additional information on education can be found in the NHS Data Tables, Catalogue nos. 99-012-X2011040 through 99-012-X2011048, the NHS Profile, Catalogue no. 99-010-X, as well as in the NHS Focus on Geography Series, Catalogue no. 99-010-X2011005.

Thematic maps showing the 'highest certificate, diploma or degree' are also available for various geographic areas.

For details on the concepts, definitions, universes, variables and geographic terms used in the 2011 National Household Survey, please consult the National Household Survey Dictionary, Catalogue no. 99-000-X. For detailed explanations on concepts and for information on data quality, please refer to the reference guides on the Census Program website.

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Note to readers

Random rounding and percentage distributions: To ensure the confidentiality of responses collected for the 2011 National Household Survey while maintaining the quality of the results, a random rounding process is used to alter the values reported in individual cells. As a result, when these data are summed or grouped, the total value may not match the sum of the individual values, since the total and subtotals are independently rounded. Similarly, percentage distributions, which are calculated on rounded data, may not necessarily add up to 100%.

Due to random rounding, estimates and percentages may vary slightly between different 2011 National Household Survey products, such as the analytical documents and various data tables.

Comparability between estimates from the 2006 Census long form and the 2011 National Household Survey estimates: When comparing estimates from the 2006 Census long form and estimates from the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) users should take into account the fact that the two sources represent different populations. The target population for the 2006 Census long form includes usual residents in collective dwellings and persons living abroad whereas the target population for the NHS excludes them. Moreover, the NHS estimates are derived from a voluntary survey and are therefore subject to potentially higher non-response error than those derived from the 2006 Census long form.

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Acknowledgments

This report was prepared by Sarah Jane Ferguson and John Zhao, of Statistics Canada's Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics Division, with the assistance of staff members of Statistics Canada's Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics Division, Census Subject Matter Secretariat, Geography Division, Census Operations Division, Dissemination Division and Communications Division.