Elementary and secondary public school indicators

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Just under 5.1 million students were enrolled in publicly funded elementary and secondary schools in Canada during the academic year 2009/2010, down 0.2% from the previous academic year. This was the lowest level since 1997/1998, when data for the Elementary–Secondary Education Survey were first collected. Enrolment peaked at nearly 5.4 million students in 1999/2000.

Since the peak, enrolment has declined in general in every province and territory except Alberta. The largest declines were in the Atlantic provinces, followed by the Northwest Territories. Similarly, between 2008/2009 and 2009/2010, enrolment also fell in all jurisdictions except Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec.

On the other hand, enrolment in second-language immersion programs in public elementary and secondary schools has increased steadily. In 2009/2010, about 328,600 students were enrolled in a second-language immersion program, up 3.5% from 2008/2009 and 18.3% from the start of the decade.

More than 351,000 students graduated from publicly funded secondary schools in 2009/2010, a 3.4% increase from the previous academic year. The number of graduates has steadily increased across Canada, led primarily by Ontario and Quebec.

In 2009/2010, there were 337,600 educators in Canada, up 0.5% from the previous year. The national student–educator ratio declined again in 2009/2010, to 14.0, maintaining its decade-long downward trend.

Note: Data are obtained from the departments of education in each province and territory.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 5102.

The report, "Summary Public School Indicators for Canada, the Provinces and Territories, 2005/2006 to 2009/2010" is now available as part of the Culture, Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics: Research Papers (81-595-M2011095, free) from the Key resource module of our website under Publications. It examines trends in enrolment, graduates and the number of educators in public schools, as well as basic financial statistics, such as total spending as well as spending per student, in public elementary and secondary schools between 2005/2006 and 2009/2010.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-800-307-3382; 613-951-7608; fax: 613-951-4441; educationstats@statcan.gc.ca), Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics.