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Tuesday, October 11, 2005

University enrolment

2003/04

Enrolment at Canadian universities recorded its strongest increase in 28 years during the academic year 2003/04, due to a rise in the number of students aged 18 to 24, Ontario's double cohort and a record gain in students from other countries.

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In total, 990,400 students were enrolled in universities in 2003/04, up 6.1% from the previous year and 20.4% higher compared with 1997/98. It was the sixth consecutive year in which enrolment hit a record high.


Note to readers

University enrolment data for 2003/04 are obtained using information from the Enhanced Student Information System (ESIS) and the University Student Information System (USIS).

Data on the fields of study are coded according to the new Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP). Before ESIS was implemented, the USIS classification for the coding of university level fields of study was used. USIS-to-CIP and CIP-to-USIS conversion tables are available upon request.

Data on program levels, immigration status and country of citizenship were coded using the new ESIS classifications. Conversion tables are also available for these variables.

For the purposes of this release, a foreign student is defined as a non-Canadian student who does not have "permanent resident" status and has had to obtain the authorization of the Canadian government to enter Canada with the intention of pursuing an education.

Historical data on enrolments starting with 1992/93 were converted using ESIS variable definitions and code sets, so as to maintain the historical continuity of the statistical series.

For Quebec institutions, the CIP codes assigned to programs are under review.

The data are subject to revision. The reconciliation of the 2003-2004 data from Simon Fraser University is not yet completed.


Enrolment within the 18 to 24 age group has risen at a faster pace than the increase in total university enrolment. The student population in this age group rose 27.5% between 1995/96 and 2003/04. This was due to two factors. First, there were more people aged 18 to 24 with the arrival of the echo-boom generation, that is, children born between 1980 and 1995. Second, the proportions of young adults going to university increased.

The restructuring of the Canadian economy over the past quarter century appears to have had an impact on demand for university education and the expectation of students on labour market requirements. Many more entry-level jobs in today's economy require higher postsecondary qualifications than in the past.

Ontario's double cohort was also a major factor in the rising university enrolment rate. In 2002/03, two cohorts of students graduated from Ontario secondary schools at the same time because of the elimination of Grade 13 Ontario Academic Courses (OAC) from the Ontario curriculum. Therefore, Grade 12 and Grade 13 OAC students entered university simultaneously and increased the number of enrolments in 2003/04, especially for 18 year old students.

In addition, a record 70,000 students from other countries enrolled in programs at Canadian universities in 2003/04, up 16.8% from the previous year.

Almost 5 out of every 10 foreign students were from Asia, and China accounted for almost 44% of these Asian students.

Women now account for 6 out of every 10 undergrads

Female students continued to outnumber their male counterparts at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Women accounted for 59% of all undergraduate registrations in university in 2003/04, their highest proportion ever. They also represented 51% of graduate students.

The number of female undergraduate students rose 7.5% to 456,900 in 2003/04, while the number of male undergrads increased 6.0% to 319,900.

At the doctorate level, enrolment climbed 9.1% between 2002/03 and 2003/04, the biggest increase compared to enrolment in bachelor's and other undergraduate degree and master's programs. A record high 32,000 students were seeking their PhD in 2003/04.

Men still outnumbered women at the doctorate level, accounting for 54% of enrolment in 2003/04. However, since 1997/98, the rate of growth in enrolments for men at the doctorate was less than for women. In 1997/98, the proportion of men enrolled at the doctorate level was 57%.

Enrolment at the doctorate level has increased 18.5% since 1997/98, largely because of gains in architecture, engineering and related technologies, and in physical and life sciences and technology.

In 2002/03, for the first time, the number of enrolments at the doctorate level in architecture, engineering and related technologies surpassed the number of registrations in humanities.

There were 89,400 students enrolled in a master's program in 2003/04, up 4.2% from the previous year and 28.0% higher compared with 1997/98. Women accounted for 52% of enrolment, a proportion that has remained stable since 1997/98.

Full-time student enrolment reached a record high of 735,600 in 2003/04, while part-time enrolment fell to 1999/2000 levels.

Share of foreign students nearly doubles

Foreign students accounted for 7% of the university population in 2003/04, nearly double the proportion of 4% a decade earlier.

Several factors might explain the substantial growth. They include strong economic growth in leading Asian countries, such as China; new university marketing strategies to counter competition from institutions in other countries; changes in immigration policies; and provincial agreements with other countries to attract foreign students.

Asian students accounted for nearly 70% of the total increase in foreign students between 2002/03 and 2003/04. Compared to 2002/03, the number of students from China rose by 45%.

Canadian universities also received large numbers of students from South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and India. The number of students from those nations increased in 2003/04, except for Hong Kong (-2%).

About one-fifth of foreign students came from Europe and 16% from North America and Central America and the Caribbean. Almost half of the European students enrolled in Canada were from France.

Overall, more than one-third of foreign students were enrolled in Ontario universities and 30% in Quebec universities. British Columbia universities accounted for 11% and Alberta universities 8%.

Among foreign students, both undergraduate and graduate level enrolments increased substantially in 2003/04 compared to the previous year. Undergraduate enrolments rose 21% and the graduate student population rose 15%.

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Enrolment up in almost every field of study

University enrolment rose in almost every field of study in 2003/04. The only major field to register a decline was mathematics, computer and information sciences, where the student population fell 3.2%, the second consecutive decline. This decrease was driven by a 7.5% drop in enrolment in computer and information sciences and support services.

The biggest gain occurred in the field of business, management and public administration (+11.6%), where the number of students surpassed 170,900. Business, management and public administration has led enrolment since 1999/2000.

The second largest increase in enrolment occurred in physical and life sciences and technology (+10.0%), which includes among others, physical, biological and biomedical sciences. Since 1997/98, enrolment in this field of study has risen by 20.5%, partly due to the increased participation of women. Women now account for 56% of all students in this field.

The second largest field of study was social and behavioural sciences, where enrolment reached 162,300. Women represented two-thirds of the student population in this field.

Full-time university enrolment at the provincial level

All provinces saw their number of students rise in the 2003/04, with increases ranging from 0.9% in Saskatchewan to 9.6% in Ontario.

During the last six years, the increase in full-time enrolment was such that all provinces saw their numbers exceed those for 1997/98.

Part-time enrolment increased in every province except British Columbia and Quebec (which both posted declines) during the six-year period.

Available on CANSIM: table 477-0013.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 5017.

Data tables are also available in the Canadian Statistics module of our Web site.

For general information or to order data, contact Client Services (1-800-307-3382; 613-951-7608; fax: 613-951-9040; educationstats@statcan.gc.ca).

University enrolment by registration status
  1997/98 2001/02r 2002/03 2003/04 1997/98 to 2003/04
          % change1 actual change
Total2 822,800 886,600 933,900 990,400 20.4 167,600
Male 358,400 376,900 397,200 418,400 16.7 60,000
Female 464,400 509,600 536,600 571,700 23.1 107,300
Full-time2 573,100 635,000 675,500 735,600 28.4 162,500
Male 260,400 276,100 294,200 318,400 22.3 58,000
Female 312,700 358,900 381,300 417,100 33.4 104,400
Part-time2 249,700 251,600 258,400 254,800 2.0 5,100
Male 98,000 100,800 103,000 100,000 2.1 2,100
Female 151,700 150,700 155,400 154,600 1.9 2,900
Undergraduate level2 633,000 687,100 726,700 776,900 22.7 143,900
Full-time2 481,100 528,400 563,800 616,100 28.1 135,000
Male 212,900 223,400 238,400 258,500 21.4 45,600
Female 268,300 304,900 325,400 357,600 33.3 89,300
Part-time2 151,900 158,700 162,900 160,700 5.8 8,900
Male 57,300 61,900 63,200 61,400 7.2 4,100
Female 94,600 96,900 99,600 99,300 5.0 4,700
Graduate2 112,700 124,700 135,100 142,800 26.7 30,100
Full-time2 75,400 84,900 92,700 101,200 34.3 25,800
Male 39,800 43,100 47,300 51,800 30.1 12,000
Female 35,600 41,800 45,400 49,400 38.9 13,800
Part-time2 37,300 39,900 42,400 41,500 11.3 4,200
Male 17,000 18,300 19,300 18,600 9.3 1,600
Female 20,300 21,600 23,100 22,900 13.1 2,700
1.Percentages are based on actual, non-rounded figures.
2.Enrolment figures may not add up due to the exclusion of the unknown sex category, the other program level category or because of the rounding to the nearest 100.
rRevised data.

University enrolment by fields of study and sex
  1997/98 2002/03 2003/04 1997/98 to 2003/04 2002/03 to 2003/04
        % change1
Total2 822,800 933,900 990,400 20.4 6.1
Male 358,400 397,200 418,400 16.7 5.4
Female 464,400 536,600 571,700 23.1 6.5
Personal improvement and leisure2 0 100 100 ... -23.9
Male 0 0 0 ... -100.0
Female 0 0 0 ... -86.4
Education2 67,600 71,700 76,300 12.9 6.5
Male 17,500 17,500 18,500 5.4 5.7
Female 50,100 54,200 57,800 15.5 6.8
Visual and performing arts, and communications technologies2 25,000 29,700 30,900 23.6 3.8
Male 8,900 10,000 10,300 16.4 3.4
Female 16,100 19,800 20,500 27.6 4.0
Humanities2 130,000 137,700 148,800 14.4 8.1
Male 50,200 51,800 54,800 9.3 5.8
Female 79,900 85,800 93,900 17.6 9.4
Social and behavioural sciences, and law2 132,100 148,800 162,300 22.8 9.1
Male 48,700 51,600 56,000 15.0 8.6
Female 83,400 97,200 106,200 27.3 9.3
Business, management and public administration2 124,600 153,000 170,900 37.1 11.6
Male 57,400 68,900 76,700 33.6 11.3
Female 67,300 84,100 94,200 40.0 11.9
Physical and life sciences, and technologies2 76,500 83,800 92,200 20.5 10.0
Male 36,800 37,500 40,900 11.4 9.2
Female 39,800 46,400 51,300 28.9 10.6
Mathematics, computer and information sciences2 34,400 45,200 43,700 27.1 -3.2
Male 24,700 32,700 32,000 29.4 -2.2
Female 9,700 12,500 11,700 20.9 -6.1
Architecture, engineering and related technologies2 63,400 82,300 86,900 37.0 5.6
Male 49,900 63,000 67,100 34.4 6.5
Female 13,500 19,300 19,800 46.4 2.7
Agriculture, natural resources and conservation2 16,700 14,300 14,400 -13.7 0.8
Male 8,500 6,600 6,500 -23.6 -1.6
Female 8,300 7,800 8,000 -3.5 2.7
Health, parks, recreation and fitness2 74,800 84,800 91,400 22.2 7.8
Male 25,200 25,100 26,200 3.6 4.2
Female 49,500 59,700 65,200 31.6 9.3
Personal, protective and transportation services 400 1,000 1,200 245.6 27.7
Male 300 700 800 139.2 10.1
Female 0 300 500 1,148.6 72.4
Other2 77,100 81,600 71,300 -7.6 -12.6
Male 30,400 31,800 28,700 -5.4 -9.8
Female 46,800 49,700 42,500 -9.0 -14.4
...Not applicable
1.Percentages are based on actual, non-rounded figures.
2.Enrolment figures may not add up due to the exclusion of the unknown sex category and rounding to the nearest 100.

University enrolment by province
  1997/98 2002/03 2003/04 1997/98 to 2003/04 2002/03 to 2003/04
        % change1
Canada2 822,800 933,900 990,400 20.4 6.1
Newfoundland and Labrador 15,800 16,900 17,600 11.1 3.8
Prince Edward Island 2,900 3,600 3,900 31.5 8.3
Nova Scotia 37,100 41,900 44,800 20.7 6.9
New Brunswick 22,700 24,700 25,600 12.7 3.7
Quebec 232,100 250,800 260,100 12.0 3.7
Ontario 303,400 360,300 394,700 30.1 9.6
Manitoba 30,800 35,200 38,000 23.4 8.2
Saskatchewan 31,200 34,300 34,600 10.7 0.9
Alberta 71,400 83,400 86,300 20.8 3.4
British Columbia 75,300 82,900 85,000 12.9 2.5
Full-time student          
Canada 573,100 675,500 735,600 28.4 8.9
Newfoundland and Labrador 13,100 14,000 14,400 10.1 3.5
Prince Edward Island 2,500 3,000 3,300 32.6 10.1
Nova Scotia 30,100 33,900 36,200 20.5 6.9
New Brunswick 18,500 19,900 21,100 14.2 6.2
Quebec 131,100 153,300 161,800 23.4 5.5
Ontario 227,200 275,500 313,700 38.1 13.8
Manitoba 21,000 25,200 27,800 32.4 10.4
Saskatchewan 23,900 25,900 26,500 11.0 2.1
Alberta 52,800 62,900 65,000 23.1 3.4
British Columbia 53,000 61,900 65,800 24.0 6.2
Part-time student          
Canada 249,700 258,400 254,800 2.0 -1.4
Newfoundland and Labrador 2,700 3,000 3,100 15.7 5.2
Prince Edward Island 500 600 600 25.7 -0.7
Nova Scotia 7,000 8,000 8,500 21.7 6.7
New Brunswick 4,200 4,800 4,400 6.0 -7.0
Quebec 101,000 97,500 98,300 -2.7 0.8
Ontario 76,300 84,800 81,100 6.3 -4.4
Manitoba 9,800 9,900 10,200 4.1 2.6
Saskatchewan 7,400 8,300 8,100 9.7 -3.0
Alberta 18,600 20,600 21,300 14.4 3.5
British Columbia 22,300 21,000 19,200 -13.7 -8.4
1.Percentages are based on actual, non-rounded figures.
2.Enrolment figures may not add up due to rounding.



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