Quality of early-career employment for Indigenous graduates with a bachelor’s degree

Release date: June 24, 2024
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Infographic: Quality of early-career employment for Indigenous graduates with a bachelor’s degree
Description: Quality of early-career employment for Indigenous graduates with a bachelor’s degree

From 2010 to 2018, 1,624,560 people in Canada earned a bachelor’s degree. Of these, 42,070 were Indigenous.

Indigenous people represented 3% of all bachelor’s degree holders, while they represented 5% of the Canadian population aged 25 to 34 in 2021.

Table 1
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 1 People who earned a bachelor’s degree between 2010 and 2018 and Canadian population aged 25 to 34 in 2021, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
  People who earned a bachelor’s degree between 2010 and 2018 Canadian population aged 25 to 34 in 2021
percent
Indigenous 3 5
Non-Indigenous 97 95

First Nations and Métis represented the vast majority of Indigenous bachelor’s degree holders, while Inuit represented a small proportion.

Table 2
Table summary
This table displays the results of . The information is grouped by Distribution of Indigenous bachelor’s degree holders, by Indigenous identity, 2010 to 2018 (appearing as row headers), , calculated using (appearing as column headers).
Distribution of Indigenous bachelor’s degree holders, by Indigenous identity, 2010 to 2018 percent
First Nations 47.6
Métis 47.3
Inuit 1.5
Other 3.5

Based on the results for three quality of employment indicators, two years after graduatingNote 1…

  • First Nations bachelor’s degree holders often had lower outcomes than their non-Indigenous counterparts
  • Métis graduates had similar or better outcomes than non-Indigenous bachelor’s degree holders
Table 3
Table summary
This table displays the results of Table 3 Average employment income (2020 constant dollars), Unionization rate and Employer pension plan coverage rate, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
  Average employment income (2020 constant dollars) Unionization rate Employer pension plan coverage rate
percent
Women  
First Nations $50,400 46 45
Métis $54,800 64 65
Non-Indigenous $50,900 55 59
Men  
First Nations $55,600 34 46
Métis $59,400 43 55
Non-Indigenous $58,100 33 47

Source: Sylvie Brunet, Liliana Corak and Diane Galarneau, 2024, “Early career quality of employment of Indigenous graduates with a bachelor's degree, 2010 to 2018 cohorts,” Education, learning and training Research Paper Series, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 81-595-M.

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Published by authority of the Minister responsible for Statistics Canada.

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Industry, 2024

Use of this publication is governed by the Statistics Canada Open Licence Agreement.

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