Aboriginal Peoples: Fact Sheet for Quebec Aboriginal Peoples: Fact Sheet for Quebec

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One in ten Aboriginal people in Canada live in Quebec

• Numbering 141,915,^{Note 1} 10% of the Aboriginal identity population in Canada lived in Quebec in 2011. They made up 2% of the total population of that province.
• Almost one in five Aboriginal people in Quebec resided in Montréal, although they represented less than 1% of the total population living there.
• Quebec was home to 82,425 First Nations people, 40,955 Métis, and 12,570 Inuit, with the rest reporting other^{Note 2} Aboriginal identities (4,415) or more than one Aboriginal identity (1,550). From 2006 to 2011, the First Nations population in Quebec increased by 26%, while the Métis population rose by 47%, and the Inuit population by 15%.^{Note 3}
• Of those who identified as First Nations people in 2011, almost two-thirds (64% or 52,650) reported being a Treaty Indian or a Registered Indian as defined by the Indian Act of Canada. Just under one-half (47% or 38,615) of all First Nations people (72% of First Nations people who were Treaty or Registered Indians, or 37,880 individuals) lived on a reserve.

Aboriginal population younger than non-Aboriginal

• Four in ten Aboriginal people in Quebec were under the age of 25, compared with 29% of the non-Aboriginal population. More than half of Inuit (57%) were in this age group, as were 42% of First Nations people (51% of those living on a reserve and 33% of the off-reserve population) and 33% of Métis.
• In 2011, the median age of First Nations people was 31.3; the off-reserve population was older (38.5) than those living on a reserve (24.1). Métis had a median age of 38.8; that of Inuit was 21.3. All three groups were younger than the non-Aboriginal population, whose median age was 41.3.

Over half of Aboriginal children live with both parents

• In Quebec, 56% of First Nations and Inuit children aged 14 and younger lived in a family with both their parents in 2011, as did 60% of Métis children. The corresponding percentage for non-Aboriginal children was 73%. Three in ten First Nations children, 28% of Métis children and 32% of Inuit children lived in a lone-parent family, rates that were higher than that for their non-Aboriginal peers (19%).
• In 2011, 3% of Aboriginal children aged 14 and younger were in foster care; at 4%, the percentage was highest for First Nations children living off reserve and Inuit children. Moreover, of all Quebec children in foster care in 2011, 15% were Aboriginal children, the majority of whom (67%) were First Nations children.

On-reserve First Nations people and Inuit most likely to live in crowded homes and homes requiring major repairs

• In Quebec in 2011, 26% of on-reserve First Nations people and 42% of Inuit lived in crowded homes, that is, with more than one person per room. Among Métis and off-reserve First Nations people, the percentage was 2%. The comparable figure for the non-Aboriginal population was 3%.
• About one-third of First Nations people living on reserve (34%) and Inuit (36%) lived in homes in need of major repairs, rates that were much higher than that for off-reserve First Nations people (12%) and Métis (14%). The corresponding figure for the non-Aboriginal population was 7%.

Majority of Inuit and on-reserve First Nations people speak an Aboriginal language

• Almost nine in ten Inuit reported an Aboriginal mother tongue (87%) and the ability to converse in an Aboriginal language (88%). Inuktitut was the Aboriginal language most commonly spoken by Inuit.
• Among First Nations people living on a reserve, 79% reported an Aboriginal mother tongue and 84% the ability to conduct a conversation in an Aboriginal language, which suggests acquisition of an Aboriginal language as a second language. The Aboriginal languages most commonly spoken by First Nations people were Cree languages, Innu/Montagnais, and Atikamekw.
• Based on results of the Aboriginal Peoples Survey,^{Note 4} 43% of off-reserve First Nations people, 35% of Métis and 93% of Inuit aged 6 and older reported that speaking and understanding an Aboriginal language was important to them.

Postsecondary qualifications vary by Aboriginal group

• In 2011, 53% of Aboriginal people aged 25 to 64 in Quebec had a certificate, diploma or degree from a trade school, college or university: 52% of First Nations people, 59% of Métis and 27% of Inuit. The comparable percentage for their non-Aboriginal counterparts was 66%.
• Among those with postsecondary credentials, First Nations people, Métis and Inuit were more likely than non-Aboriginal graduates to have completed programs below the bachelor's level (trades or college programs).
• There was also a difference in the proportion of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people with "no certificate, diploma or degree". In 2011, 31% of First Nations people (47% of those living on a reserve and 21% for the off-reserve population) aged 25 to 64, 23% of Métis and 56% of Inuit did not have a certificate, diploma or degree. The corresponding percentage for the non-Aboriginal population was 15%.

Employment rates and median total income increase with education

• In 2011, the employment rates of First Nations people, Métis and Inuit aged 25 to 64 in Quebec who did not have a certificate, diploma or degree were 43.1%, 43.9% and 52.6% respectively. Employment rates were higher for those with further education. For example, among those with postsecondary credentials, the employment rate of First Nations people and Métis was 74.3%, while that of Inuit was 76.0%.

• Median total income^{Note 5} was also higher for those with higher education levels. Among First Nations people aged 25 to 64, median total income (rounded to the nearest $1,000) ranged from $17,000 for those with no certificate, diploma or degree to $35,000 for those with postsecondary credentials. The range for Métis was from $15,000 to $37,000, and for Inuit, from $23,000 to $40,000.

Half rated their health as excellent or very good

• Based on results of the Aboriginal Peoples Survey, 50% of the Aboriginal population aged 12 and older in Quebec rated their health as excellent or very good in 2012: 50% of First Nations people living off reserve, 52% of Métis, and 45% of Inuit.
• The majority of off-reserve First Nations people (66%) and Métis (71%) aged 18 and older reported excellent or very good mental health.^{Note 6} The corresponding percentage for Inuit was 46%.

• Inuit in all age groups reported poorer overall health and mental health than off-reserve First Nations people, Métis, and non-Aboriginal people.^{Note 7}
• Two-thirds of off-reserve First Nations people (65%) aged 12 and older reported that they had been diagnosed with at least one chronic condition as did 61% of Métis and 34% of Inuit. The corresponding percentage for the non-Aboriginal population was 52%.
• Among off-reserve First Nations people, Métis and Inuit, commonly reported conditions included high blood pressure (19%, 19% and 8%, respectively), asthma (16%, 16% and 5%^{Note E: Use with caution}) and arthritis excluding fibromyalgia (16%, 14%, and 4%^{Note E: Use with caution}). In addition, 12% of off-reserve First Nations people, 11% of Métis and 4%^{Note E: Use with caution} of Inuit reported an anxiety disorder and 11%^{Note E: Use with caution} of First Nations people living off reserve, 11% of Métis and 5%^{Note E: Use with caution} of Inuit reported being diagnosed with a mood disorder. A learning disability was reported by 9% of off-reserve First Nations people, 11% of Métis and 9%^{Note E: Use with caution} of Inuit.

Six in ten Inuit smoked daily

• In 2012, 28% of off-reserve First Nations people and Métis aged 12 and older reported that they smoked daily, as did 61% of Inuit. The comparable percentage for the non-Aboriginal population was 19%.
• Over half of Inuit in all age groups in Table 6 reported that they smoked daily, with rates ranging from 55% for those aged 45 and older to 68% for 25- to 44-year-olds.

• For those 12 and older, the rate of heavy drinking (five or more drinks on one occasion at least once a month in the 12 months preceding the survey) was 23% for off-reserve First Nations people, 21% for Métis, and 46% for Inuit, compared with 23% for non-Aboriginal people. For both the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations, those aged 45 and older were less likely than those in the younger age groups to report heavy drinking.
• At the same time, 28% of off-reserve First Nations people and 35% of Inuit were non-drinkers (consumed no alcohol in the 12 months preceding the survey), compared with 18% of the non-Aboriginal population. The percentage for Métis was 22%. At ages 12 to 24, almost half (46%) of Inuit were non-drinkers. The corresponding percentage for their non-Aboriginal peers was 26% while that for off-reserve First Nations people and Métis in this age group was just over 30%.

This fact sheet was prepared by Karen Kelly-Scott of the Social and Aboriginal Statistics Division of Statistics Canada.