Employment rates, by educational attainment and Aboriginal identity

The number of Aboriginal postsecondary graduates is rising

• In 2001, about two out of five Aboriginal people aged 25 to 64 years had not completed their high school education—almost twice the proportion of their non-Aboriginal counterparts. However, large improvements were made from 1996 to 2001. The proportion of Aboriginal people without a high school diploma dropped from 45% to 39% during this period, while the proportions of Aboriginal high school and postsecondary graduates increased.
• The employment rate generally rises with formal education. In 2001, the employment rate for Aboriginal people aged 25 to 64 years with some high school education or less was 42.9%, compared with 82.3% for those with a university degree.
• Education appears to reduce the employment rate gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. While the employment rate among Aboriginal people aged 25 to 64 with less than a high school diploma was 17 percentage points lower than the rate for non-Aboriginal people with the same level of education, there was almost no difference in the employment rates of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal university graduates.

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