Secondary school graduates

Just under 199,000 people graduated from secondary schools in provinces and territories (other than Ontario) in the academic year 2002/03, virtually unchanged from the level in 1997/98.

However, high schools in Alberta and British Columbia bucked the trend from 1997/98 to 2002/03, recording a strong rate of growth in the number of students who received diplomas.

A total of 31,335 students graduated in Alberta in 2002/03, up 17.8% from 1997/98. In British Columbia, the number rose 16.8% to 44,073.

On the other hand, the number of graduates declined 17.3% in Newfoundland and Labrador, and 12.1% in Quebec. The big decline in Newfoundland and Labrador followed a drop in school enrolment, the result of out-migration to other provinces or territories.

Data were available for this release for all provinces and territories, except Ontario. Graduates in Ontario represent generally about 37% of all graduates in Canada. Furthermore, because of the elimination of Grade 13 (OAC), two cohorts graduated in 2002/03 in Ontario. These cohorts were not reflected in this release.

Graduation rates remained relatively stable during the five-year period in all provinces and territories, exclusive of Ontario.

In 2002/03, three-quarters of youth graduated with a high school diploma, unchanged from 1997/98. Graduation rates had increased in the first half of the 1990s.

The highest graduation rates were in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The lowest were in the three territories.

Among the provinces, the lowest graduation rate occurred in Alberta where only two-thirds of youth graduated from high school in 2002/2003.

Between 1997/98 and 2002/03, the largest increase in graduation rates occurred in the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Alberta. In that period, the graduation rate in the Northwest Territories jumped from 34% to 43%. The largest declines took place in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Manitoba.

The graduation rate for Canada outside Ontario was higher for women in 2002/03. Some 81% of young women received a high school diploma, compared with just 70% for their male counterparts, unchanged from 1996/97. In 2002/03, graduation rates among young women were higher than average in the Northwest Territories, Quebec and Yukon.

Note: The number of graduates is as of the end of a school year while the population estimates are as of July 1 of the corresponding school year. Late graduates in "youth" programs are included in the calculations while graduates from upgrading programs for out-of-school adults, leading to "equivalency" certification or to regular high school graduation certification, are not. For this reason, this methodology underestimates the "final" graduation rate and should not be used to infer dropout rate.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 5082.

For general information or to order data, contact Client Services (1-800-307-3382; 613-951-7608; educationstats@statcan.gc.ca). To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Patric Blouin (613-951-0935; patric.blouin@statcan.gc.ca) or François Nault (613-951-9039; francois.nault@statcan.gc.ca), Culture, Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics.