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Back to school – September 2009

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Enrolments in public elementary and secondary schools
Enrolments in second-language immersion programs
University enrolment, 2007/2008
Earned Doctorates in Canada in 2005/2006
Postsecondary participation over time
Educational outcomes at age 21 associated with reading ability at age 15
Registered apprenticeship training programs, 2007
Mobility of apprenticeship completers
Barriers to training access
Learning limitations in the adult population
Low income – age and education effects

Enrolments in public elementary and secondary schools

Over 5.16 million youth were enrolled in public schools in the academic year 2006/2007, a 3.5% decrease from 2000/2001. This continued a downward trend which has seen declines every year since 2002/2003.

Alberta and Nunavut were the only two jurisdictions that experienced enrolment increases since 2000/2001. Alberta’s enrolment stood under 561,000 in 2006/2007, up 2.0% from 2000/2001. Nunavut’s enrolment stood just over 9,000, up 3.6% from 2000/2001.

Chart 1
Percentage change between 2000/2001 and 2006/2007

Chart 1: Percentage change between 2000/2001 and 2006/2007

Overall, between 2000/2001 and 2006/2007, enrolment declined 17.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador, 11.6% in Saskatchewan and 11.0% in Nova Scotia. This is consistent with population estimates data that show that the population aged 5 to 17 decreased by 17.3% in Newfoundland and Labrador, 10.7% in Saskatchewan and 8.2% in Nova Scotia over the corresponding period.

Source: Brockington, Riley. 2009. Summary public school indicators for the provinces and territories, 2000-2001 to 2006-2007. Statistics Canada Catalogue number 81-595-M – Number 078.

Enrolments in second-language immersion programs

Although enrolment across Canada continued to decrease, enrolment in second-language immersion programs in public elementary and secondary schools increased steadily every year. Over 304,000 youth were enrolled in a second-language immersion program in 2006/2007, up 3.1% from a year earlier and up 9.5% since 2000/2001.

Over the six-year period between 2000/2001 and 2006/2007, the total number of students enrolled in second-language immersion programs increased 45.7% in Newfoundland and Labrador, 29.9% in British Columbia and 27.6% in Nova Scotia.

Source: Brockington, Riley. 2009. Summary public school indicators for the provinces and territories, 2000-2001 to 2006-2007. Statistics Canada Catalogue number 81-595-M – Number 078.

University enrolment, 2007/2008

Just over 1,066,000 students were enrolled in Canadian universities during the academic year 2007/2008, up 0.6% from the previous academic year. This is a much slower rate of growth than the annual average increase of 2.9% since 1998/1999.

Women accounted for 57.5% of the student population in 2007/2008. The proportion of women, slightly lower than in past years, was similar to their share in 2002/2003.

The top three fields of study accounted for one-half of total enrolment in 2007/2008. These fields were social and behavioral sciences, and law; business, management and public administration; and the humanities. These fields of study have been in the top three since 1992/1993.

The largest increase (+3.5%) occurred in the health, parks, recreation and fitness field.

Enrolment fell in six fields: personal improvement and leisure; humanities; mathematics, computer and information sciences; personal, protective and transportation services; other; and visual and performing arts, and communications technologies, the latter of which was the first decline since 1996/1997.

The decline in the mathematics, computer and information sciences field continued a long-term trend. Enrolment was down 4.6% to 32,400, matching levels in 1994/1995. This field accounted for 3.0% of total enrolment in 2007/2008, the lowest proportion since prior to 1992/1993.

Source: The Daily, Monday, July 13, 2009.

Earned Doctorates in Canada in 2005/2006

According to the Survey of Earned Doctorates, enrolment in doctoral programs increased 6.1% to reach 36,700 in the 2005/2006 academic year. This was the largest percentage increase in enrolment across all programs at the university level and followed a period of sustained enrolment growth in doctoral programs beginning around 2001. However, the increasing enrolment of the preceding four years has yet to translate into more doctoral graduates. Figures from the Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS) revealed that the number of doctoral degree recipients was only slightly higher than it was almost a decade earlier. In 2005, 4,200 students received a doctoral degree in Canada compared to 4,000 in 1998.

The biological sciences continued to be the most popular field of study among graduates. In the 2005/2006 academic year, one fifth of doctorates awarded were in this field, as was true in the two preceding years. The next largest field of study was engineering with 15% of graduates, followed by physical sciences with 11% of graduates.

In the 2005/2006 academic year almost one quarter (23%) of the students who earned their doctorate degree were foreign or visa students. This proportion remained unchanged over the previous three years.

There were large differences in the proportion of visa and foreign students across fields of study. Almost half of the graduates in engineering were foreign or visa students compared with only 15% of graduates in life sciences. Furthermore, while the proportion of foreign or visa students in general had not changed significantly in the previous two years, there has been an increase of nine percentage points in the proportion of foreign students in the social sciences since the 2003/2004 academic year, coupled with a decrease of nine percentage points in the proportion of foreign or visa students in physical sciences.

Chart 2
Proportion of visa and foreign students by field of study

Chart 2: Proportion of visa and foreign students by field of study

Source: Statistics Canada, Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2005/2006.

Source: King, Darren, Judy Eisl-Culkin and Louise Desjardins. 2008. Doctorate Education in Canada: Findings from the Survey of Earned Doctorates, 2005/2006. Statistics Canada Catalogue number 81-595-M – Number 069.

Postsecondary participation over time

Data from the longitudinal Youth in Transition Survey show that in 2000, when respondents were aged 18 to 20, about 55% of men and women had participated in some form of postsecondary education either at college, university or a private institution. In 2008, by time they were age 26 to 28, this proportion had increased to 81%.

Source: The Daily, Thursday, July 9, 2009.

Educational outcomes at age 21 associated with reading ability at age 15

Close to three quarters of the 15 year-olds of 2000 had attended college or university six years later at age 21. Whether or not someone attempted a postsecondary education was related to their reading proficiency level at age 15. The vast majority of individuals with high reading proficiency at age 15 had enrolled in either college or university by age 21. In contrast, only about half of those whose reading proficiency was average or below-average had enrolled in college or university by age 21.

When controlling for other factors known to influence postsecondary education participation such as gender, mother tongue, place of residence, parental education and family income, reading proficiency had the most significant effect on attending a college or a university. Nevertheless, notable differences in college and university participation rates are evident across family background characteristics, despite reading abilities.

Among youth with, at most, average reading proficiency at age 15, college or university participation rates at age 21 were much higher for youth who had at least one parent with a university education than they were for youth whose parents had only a high school education (57% compared to 35%).Though college and university participation rates of youth with high school-educated parents were higher for youth who had high reading proficiency at age 15, contrasts were still evident when compared to youth with university-educated parents. In this case, high reading-proficiency youth with high school-educated parents were more likely to attend college whereas their high reading-proficiency counterparts with university-educated parents were more likely to attend university.

Table
Postsecondary status at age 21, by reading proficiency level and highest level of parental education when youth were age 15
  Post-secondary status at age 21
No post-secondary education College University
percentage
Youth reading proficiency below Level 3
Parents have high school or less 65 29E 6E
At least one parent with college completion 55 34 11E
At least one parent with university completion 42 42 15
Youth reading proficiency at Level 3
Parents have high school or less 48 34E 18E
At least one parent with college completion 34 41 25
At least one parent with university completion 21 40 39
Youth reading proficiency at Level 4 or Level 5
Parents have high school or less 29E 37E 34E
At least one parent with college completion 19 32 49
At least one parent with university completion 9 23 68
E use with caution, sampling variability is greater then 33%
Note: Parental education levels are measured when youth are age 15.
Source: Statistics Canada, Youth in Transition Survey 2006.

Source: Bussière, Patrick, Roland Hébert and Tamara Knighton. 2009. “Educational outcomes at age 21 associated with reading ability at age 15.” Education Matters. Volume 6, number 2. Statistics Canada Catalogue number 81-004-X.

Registered apprenticeship training programs, 2007

There were 358,555 people registered in apprenticeship training programs in 2007, up 9.3% from 2006 and more than double the level in 1997.

The fastest growth occurred in metal fabricating trades, where registrations increased 11.5% from 2006, and in the electrical and electronics field, where they rose 10.2%.

These two fields, along with the building construction and motor vehicle and heavy equipment trades groups, accounted for 80% of total registrations in 2007.

Source: The Daily, Thursday, June 25, 2009.

Mobility of apprenticeship completers

The National Apprenticeship Survey (NAS) 2007 shows that nearly half (45%) of the apprenticeship completers who moved to another province in the 2002 to 2007 reference period went to Alberta. Nearly one migrant completer in three (32%) was from the Atlantic provinces. In fact, over the past 10 years, Alberta has been the main destination for migrants from the Atlantic region (all workers combined); before that, Ontario attracted half of the migrants from the Atlantic region. Also over the last 10 years, migration from the Atlantic provinces to Alberta has increased steadily; migrant apprenticeship completers seem to be following this pattern.

Differences in hourly wages are pronounced when apprenticeship completers who moved to Alberta are compared to non-migrants -- three times as many migrant completers as non-migrants (35% versus 11%) were earning $35.00 or more an hour; nearly one quarter of the migrants had hourly wages between $30.00 and $34.99, compared to 17% of the non-migrants; and close to twice as many non-migrants as migrants (25% compared to 13%) were earning less than $20.00 an hour.

The study covered the period from 2002 to 2007, a period during which Alberta’s economy was booming. However, the province has been affected by the current economic downturn. It would be interesting to determine the impact on the skilled trades and how this may have affected those who moved to Alberta to work between 2002 and 2007.

Source: Paquin, Nicole. 2009. “Mobility of apprenticeship completers in Canada from 2002 to 2007.” Education Matters. Volume 6, number 2. Statistics Canada Catalogue number 81-004-X.

Barriers to training access

About 60% of all workers received some type of employer-supported training in 2005, while about 12% declined training.

Low-wage, less-educated, or non-union workers received less employer-supported training relative to all workers, although only slightly so in the case of non-union workers.

Overall, women were as likely as men to access employer-supported training. However, differences appeared when considering low-wage workers (women 43% vs. men 50%), less-educated workers (42% vs. 52%), non-union workers (57% vs. 60%), or low-wage, less-educated, non-union workers (37% vs. 47%). However, women in these four groups were less likely to decline employer-supported training, even after controlling for their lower access.

Chart 3
Women in some groups less likely to receive employer-supported training

Chart 3: Women in some groups less likely to receive employer-supported training

* statistically significant difference at the 0.10 level or better.
Source: Statistics Canada, Workplace and Employee Survey, 2005.

Source: Cooke, Gordon B., Isik U. Zeytinoglu and James Chowhan. “Barriers to training access.” Perspectives on Labour and Income. July 2009. Volume 10, number 7. Statistics Canada Catalogue number 75-001-XWE. (The Daily July 22, 2009)

Learning limitations in the adult population

In 2006, approximately 631,000 (2.5%) Canadians aged 15 years and older reported having a learning limitation. Learning limitations may be the result of a variety of conditions, such as attention problems, hyperactivity, and dyslexia. Learning limitations also vary in their severity. Just over one in five (22.4%) with learning limitations were considered to have severe learning limitations, while the remainder (77.6%) were regarded as mild.

Rates of learning limitations were similar across all age groups of adults, illustrating the lifelong nature of this limitation. Men and women were nearly equally as likely to report having a learning condition.

In 2006, one-third of people with a learning limitation had an education beyond a high school diploma. Specifically, 14.7 % held a college or non-university certificate or diploma, 10.6 % held a trade or registered apprentice certificate, and 8.4 % had completed a bachelor’s degree or higher. Compared to the population as a whole, differences are especially pronounced at the university level. According to the 2006 Census, 17.3% of the population age 15 and over held a college or non-university certificate; 10.9% held a trade or registered apprenticeship certificate; and 18.1% had completed a university degree.

Source: Brennan, Shannon. 2009. “Facts on Learning Limitations.” Participation and Activity Limitations Survey 2006: Fact Sheet number 14. Statistics Canada Catalogue number 89-628-X.

Low income – age and education effects

One in five Canadians experienced low income for at least one year over the six-year period from 2002 to 2007, according to the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics.

The persistence of low income varies across age groups. Young adults (aged 18 to 24) lived in low-income for at least one year significantly more often (30%) than other age groups (nearing 20% for those aged 25 to 64 and only 12% for seniors).This may reflect the fact that many young adults are either still completing their education or are in the early stages of their careers and therefore low income may be part of a transitional stage of their lives.

Education and income are related. Among adults aged 25 to 54 years old who were not high school graduates, over one-quarter lived in low income for at least one year between 2002 and 2007 (26%) compared to 18% for those who had graduated high school. Having a university degree reduced the incidence of living in low income for at least one year of the six-year period even further to 11%.

Chart 4
Persons experiencing low income for at least one year during the six-year period, by age and education, 2002-2007

Chart 4: Persons experiencing low income for at least one year during the six-year period, by age and education, 2002-2007

For individuals aged 65 or older, education also matters. For seniors with a high school diploma or less, about 13% lived in low income at some point between 2002 and 2007. This compares to only 5% of seniors with a university degree. This is impacted by a career of higher earnings, and often higher private pensions and investment income for these individuals.

The proportion of low income among seniors with less education is significantly lower than among their non-senior counterparts. This is in part a result of government programs aimed at ensuring income security among seniors such as Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement.

Source: Statistics Canada. 2009. Income in Canada, 2007. Statistics Canada Catalogue number 75-202-X.