Graduation rates

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In 2005/2006, nearly three-quarters of youth graduated with a high school diploma, unchanged from 1999/2000.

Graduation rates¹ have remained relatively stable during the six-year period in all provinces and territories, exclusive of Ontario, Yukon and the Northwest Territories.

The highest graduation rates were in the Atlantic provinces and Saskatchewan. The lowest were in Alberta and the three territories (Chart 3 and Table A.8).

Among the provinces, the lowest graduation rate occurred in Alberta where slightly over two-thirds of youth graduated from high school in 2005/2006.

Between 1999/2000 and 2005/2006, the largest increase in graduation rates occurred in the Northwest Territories,Yukon, Alberta and Quebec. In that period, the graduation rate in the Northwest Territories jumped from 46% to 62%. The only places where a decline took place were in Ontario, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.

The graduation rate for Canada was higher for women in 2005/2006. Some 77% of young women received a high school diploma, compared with just 70% for their male counterparts. The proportion of women and men receiving a high school diploma has not changed since 1999/2000. In 2005/2006, graduation rates among young women were higher than average in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Quebec.

Chart 3
Secondary graduation rate, 2005/2006, Canada, provinces and territories