2006 Aboriginal Population Profile for Prince Albert

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by Ron Loder

Introduction

This report examines the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the Aboriginal population living in the census agglomeration (CA) of Prince Albert.¹ The following First Nation reserve communities are located within the boundaries of Prince Albert: Wahpaton Dakota Nation (Wahpaton 94A) and Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (Opawakoscikan). The 2006 Census and 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS), which provide an extensive set of data about Aboriginal people, are the data sources.

The report focuses on the Aboriginal identity population, which refers to those people who reported identifying with at least one Aboriginal group, that is, North American Indian, Métis or Inuit, and/or those who reported being a Treaty Indian or a registered Indian as defined by the Indian Act of Canada, and/or those who reported they were members of an Indian band or First Nation.

The term 'First Nations' is used throughout the report to refer to people who identified as North American Indian. The term 'Aboriginal population' is used to refer to the Aboriginal identity population.

Setting the context

A total of 1,172,790 people in Canada identified themselves as an Aboriginal person in the 2006 Census, accounting for 3.8% of the total population of Canada.

In 2006, a total of 141,890 Aboriginal people lived in Saskatchewan, representing 15% of the provincial population.

In 2006, the census agglomeration of Prince Albert, with 13,570 Aboriginal people, had the highest concentration of Aboriginal people of any city in Saskatchewan. About one in three (34%) people in Prince Albert were Aboriginal. By comparison, Saskatoon had the largest Aboriginal population (21,535) of any city in Saskatchewan, but the Aboriginal population only represented 9% of that city's total population.

Between 2001 and 2006, the Aboriginal population in Prince Albert grew by 17%, from 11,640 to 13,570 people. The First Nations population grew by 25%, while the Métis grew by 12%.

Prince Albert's Aboriginal population half Métis and half First Nations

In 2006, 6,680 persons identified as Métis accounting for half (49%) of the Aboriginal population. Another 6,715 identified as First Nations people, accounting for almost the other half (50%). The remaining number, about 1%, reported multiple or other Aboriginal responses.²

In 2006, nine in 10 (93%) First Nations people living in Prince Albert reported being a Treaty Indian or a registered Indian as defined by the Indian Act of Canada.

A young population

The Aboriginal population living in Prince Albert is younger than the non-Aboriginal population. In 2006, the median age³ of the Aboriginal population in Prince Albert was 22 years, compared to 44 years for the non-Aboriginal population.

In 2006, just over half (56%) of Aboriginal people were under the age of 25, compared to 28% of non-Aboriginal people. Furthermore, only 4% of Aboriginal people were 65 years and over, compared to 17% of the non-Aboriginal population. One-third (35%) of Aboriginal people in Prince Albert were under the age of 15, compared to 16% of their non-Aboriginal counterparts (chart 1). For more details, see table 1 in the appendix.

Aboriginal children aged 14 years and under represented 54% of the census agglomeration's children. About four in 10 (43%) of the First Nations population was 14 years of age and under, compared to 27% of Métis.

Chart 1 Population pyramids for the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations, Prince Albert, 2006

Aboriginal children more likely than non-Aboriginal children to live with a lone parent

In 2006, just under half of Aboriginal children aged 14 and under (48%) lived with both parents. Compared with their non-Aboriginal peers, Aboriginal children were more likely to live with a lone mother (42% versus 17%), and a lone father (6% versus 3%) (see table 2 in the appendix).

Aboriginal youth less likely to be attending school

Overall, in 2006, Aboriginal youth aged 15 to 24 living in Prince Albert had lower school attendance rates than their non-Aboriginal counterparts (51% versus 59%). However, older Aboriginal people had a greater tendency to return to school than did their non-Aboriginal counterparts. For example, 9% of Aboriginal people aged 35 and over were attending school in 2006, compared to 3% of non-Aboriginal people in the same age group (see table 3 in the appendix).⁴

Just under half of Aboriginal people have completed postsecondary education

Just under half of Aboriginal men (45%) and women (47%) aged 25 to 64 in Prince Albert had completed postsecondary education, compared to over half of their non-Aboriginal counterparts (57% and 60%, respectively). Postsecondary education includes a trades certificate, a college diploma or a university certificate, diploma or degree.

Among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, men aged 25 to 64 were more likely to complete a college credential than women. By contrast, women were more likely than men to complete a university degree (see text table 1)

In 2006, just over one-quarter of Aboriginal men (27%) and Aboriginal women (26%) 25 to 64 years of age had less than a high school education, compared to 16% and 13% of non-Aboriginal men and women.

Text table 1 Highest level of educational attainment of people aged 25 to 64 years, by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal identity and sex, Prince Albert

Young Aboriginal women in Prince Albert more likely to obtain a university degree than their male counterparts

In Prince Albert, about one in eight (13%) Aboriginal women aged 25 to 34 reported having a university degree in the 2006 Census, compared to 7% of their male counterparts. (This includes all certificates, diplomas or degrees at the bachelor's level or above.) Older Aboriginal women (35 to 64 years of age) were also more likely to have a university degree than Aboriginal men in the same age group (14% versus 6%) (see chart 2).

Also, in 2006, young Aboriginal men aged 25 to 34 years were nearly a third as likely to have a university degree as young non-Aboriginal men (7% versus 19%). Young Aboriginal women in the same age group were far less likely than young non-Aboriginal women to have a university degree (13% versus 30%).

Chart 2 Percentage of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people 25 to 34 and 35 to 64 years of age with a university degree, Prince Albert, 2006

Higher unemployment rates

In 2006, the unemployment rate⁵ for the Aboriginal core working age population (aged 25 to 54) in Prince Albert was higher than that of the non-Aboriginal population (14.3% compared to 5.2%). First Nations women were more likely to be unemployed than their male counterparts. Among the Métis and the non-Aboriginal population, the rate of unemployment was similar between men and women.

Chart 3 Unemployment rates for people aged 25 to 54 years, by Aboriginal identity group and sex, Prince Albert, 2006

Unemployment rates were higher for Prince Albert's First Nations and non-Aboriginal young people. In 2006, 33.3% of First Nations youth aged 15 to 24 years were unemployed, as were 12.0% of non-Aboriginal youth (see table 4 in the appendix).

Métis employment rates most resemble those of non-Aboriginal population

Another measure of labour market performance is the employment rate.⁶ In 2006, Métis men and women aged 25 to 54 years living in Prince Albert had employment rates (79.8 % and 76.8%, respectively) that most resembled those of non-Aboriginal men and women (86.2% and 83.2 %, respectively). The employment rates for First Nations men and women were 58.0% and 51.4%, respectively (see table 5 in the appendix).

Aboriginal people less likely than the non-Aboriginal population to be working full-time, full-year

One in three (32%) Aboriginal people living in Prince Albert were working full-time, full-year⁷ in 2005, compared to 40% of the non-Aboriginal population. Among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, men were more likely than women to be full-time full-year workers (see text table 2).

There was a gap of 16 percentage points between Métis men (47%) and women (31%) who work full-time, full year. Among First Nations people, the gap was 2 percentage points between men (25%) and women (23%).

Text table 2 Percentage of full-time full-year workers, by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal identity and sex, Prince Albert

Occupations in 'sales and services' most prevalent

In studying the labour market of a given area, it is helpful to examine its occupational⁸ make-up. In 2006, the two most common occupational categories⁹ for both the Aboriginal experienced labour forces in Prince Albert were 'sales and service.' However, the kinds of jobs people hold differ for men and women. Men were much more likely than women to work in 'trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations'. Women were more likely than men to work in 'business, finance and administration,' as well as 'sales and service occupations'. This holds true for both the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations in Prince Albert.

In 2006, while Aboriginal men were more likely than their non-Aboriginal counterparts to work in 'trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations' (32% versus 27%), Aboriginal women were more likely than non-Aboriginal women to have 'sales and service' jobs (45% versus 31%) (see table 6 in the appendix).

Slight decrease in earnings

In 2000, the median earnings¹⁰ of full-time full-year Aboriginal earners in Prince Albert (measured in 2005 dollars) were about $33,600. By 2005, this had decreased slightly to approximately $33,200. In 2000, Aboriginal people in Prince Albert working full-time full-year earned 86% of what their non-Aboriginal counterparts were earning. By 2005, this percentage had increased slightly to 87% (see table 7 in the appendix).

Total income lower for Aboriginal people

The census collects a number of measures of income that help in understanding the economic situation of a population. Earnings data have been provided for the population working full-time full-year in 2005. It is also useful to look at total income¹¹ as sources of income go beyond that of employment. In 2005, two in 10 (19%) Aboriginal people with income in Prince Albert had a total income of $40,000 or over compared to three in 10 (31%) of their non-Aboriginal counterparts. In 2005, Aboriginal women had the lowest median income ($16,700) whether compared to Aboriginal men or to non-Aboriginal men or women. At about $19,600 the median total income of Aboriginal men in Prince Albert was only 60% of that of non-Aboriginal men ($32,800) (see table 8 in the appendix).

Additionally, in Prince Albert, 8% of the Aboriginal population aged 15 years and over and 4% of their non-Aboriginal counterparts reported having no income in 2005 (data not shown).

Nearly four in 10 Aboriginal people in Prince Albert living below the low-income cut-off

Statistics Canada uses the concept of low-income cut-off (LICO)¹² to indicate an income threshold below which a family will likely devote a larger share of its income on the necessities of food, shelter and clothing than the average family. In 2005, in Prince Albert nearly four in 10 (38%) Aboriginal people¹³ were living under the LICO, compared to 12% of non-Aboriginal people. In addition, almost half (47%) of Aboriginal children in Prince Albert were living under the LICO, compared to 15% of non-Aboriginal children (data not shown). These data are based on the before taxLICO.

Chart 4 Proportion of persons living below the before-tax low income cut-off by Aboriginal identity group and sex, Prince Albert, 2005

Six in 10 Aboriginal people in Prince Albert moved at least once between 2001 and 2006

The census counts people where they are living on one particular day. On May 16, 2006 (the date of the 2006 Census) there were 13,570 Aboriginal people living in the census agglomeration of Prince Albert. This count does not include all of the Aboriginal people who may have lived in Prince Albert at some point during the year, but only those who were living in Prince Albert on that particular day.¹⁴

Moreover, many people move between communities—for example, someone might move from a reserve community to a large city and back again within the same year. In 2006, four in 10 Aboriginal people in Prince Albert had lived at the same address five years ago, compared to 65% of the non-Aboriginal population. From 2001 to 2006, almost four in 10 (37%) Aboriginal people had moved at least once within Prince Albert, and the rest (24%) had moved to Prince Albert from another community. A community may refer to another municipality, or a reserve, or a rural area (see table 9 in the appendix).

One in seven Aboriginal people live in homes needing major repairs

In Prince Albert, about one in seven (14%) Aboriginal people lived in homes requiring major repairs¹⁵ in 2006, compared to 13% in 2001. In comparison, the share of Prince Albert's non-Aboriginal population living in dwellings in need of major repairs was 7% in 2006 and 8% in 2001.

The share of Aboriginal people living in crowded¹⁶ homes was 11% in 2006 up from 10% in 2001. The comparable rates for the non-Aboriginal population were about 1% in 2006 and in 2001 (see table 10 in the appendix).

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Notes:

1. The geographic area covered in this report is the census agglomeration (CA) of Prince Albert. A census agglomeration must have an urban core population of at least 10,000. For maps, see: Map.
2. Includes people who reported more than one Aboriginal identity group and those who reported being a registered Indian and/or a band member without reporting an Aboriginal identity.
3. The median age is the point where exactly one-half of the population is older and the other half is younger.
4. A new version of the school attendance question was used in the 2006 Census. Studies on data certification showed important variations with previous censuses and with the Labour Force Survey. It appears that the 2006 Census could have overestimated the school attendance for the population aged 45 years or over. We recommend users of the attendance at school variable interpret the 2006 Census results with caution. For more details on the changes to the questionnaire for the Education module, see: Census questions on education: Some important changes.
5. The unemployment rate for a particular group is the unemployed in that group, expressed as a percentage of the labour force in that group, in the week (Sunday to Saturday) prior to Census Day (May 16, 2006).
6. The employment rate refers to the number of employed people, in a given group, as a percentage of the total population in that group.
7. The term 'full-time full-year workers' refers to persons 15 years of age and over who worked 49 to 52 weeks (mostly full time) in 2005 for pay or in self-employment.
8. Occupation refers to the kind of work persons were doing during the reference week, as determined by their kind of work and the description of the main activities in their job. If the person did not have a job during the week (Sunday to Saturday) prior to enumeration, the data relate to the job of longest duration since January 1, 2005. Persons with two or more jobs were to report the information for the job at which they worked the most hours.
9. Occupations contained within the categories can cover a broad range of skill levels. For example, the business and finance occupation category includes professional occupations requiring a university degree, as well as clerical occupations that require a high school diploma or equivalent.
10. Median earnings are earnings levels that divide the population into two halves, i.e., half of the population receiving less than this amount, and half, more. Earnings or employment income refers to the income received by persons 15 years of age and over during calendar year 2005 as wages and salaries, net income from a non-farm unincorporated business and/or professional practice, and/or net farm self- employment income.
11. Total income refers to the total money income received from the following sources during calendar year 2005 by persons 15 years of age and over: wages and salaries (total), net farm income, net non-farm income from unincorporated business and/or professional practice, child benefits, Old Age Security Pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement, benefits from Canada or Quebec Pension Plan, benefits from Employment Insurance, other income from government sources, dividends, interest on bonds, deposits and savings certificates, and other investment income, retirement pensions, superannuation and annuities, including those from registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs) and registered retirement income funds (RRIFs), other money income.
12. The low-income cut-off is a statistical measure of the income threshold level below which Canadians are estimated to devote at least one-fifth more of their income than the average family to the necessities of food, shelter and clothing. For the 2005 matrix of low income before-tax cut-offs and additional information, please refer to the 2006 Census Dictionary, Catalogue no. 92-566-X.
13. For the purposes of low income statistics, certain populations, including persons living on Indian reserves, are excluded. This is because the low income cut-offs are based on certain expenditure-income patterns from survey data which are not available for the entire population (survey does not cover Indian reserves, the three territories and residents of institutions or military barracks).
14. For example, students who return to live with their parents during the year are included at their parents' address, even if they lived elsewhere while attending school or working at a summer job.
15. Dwellings in need of major repairs are those that, in the judgment of the respondent, require major repairs to such things as defective plumbing or electrical wiring, and/or structural repairs to walls, floors or ceilings, etc.
16. Crowding is defined as more than one person per room. Not counted as rooms are bathrooms, halls, vestibules and rooms used solely for business purposes.
17. Data on health is not available for Prince Albert; therefore, provincial level data has been provided.
18. Chronic conditions were those that had lasted or were expected to last six months or more and had been diagnosed by a health professional.
19. Respiratory problems include asthma, chronic bronchitis and emphysema.