Education Indicators in Canada: An International Perspective 2017
Highlights

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Chapter A: The output of educational institutions and the impact of learning

A1 Educational attainment of the adult population

• In Canada, the proportion of adults aged 25 to 64 with tertiary education (college/university completion) increased from 46% in 2005 to 57% in 2016, the highest rate among OECD countries. At the same time, the proportion of individuals with less than high school completion (“below upper secondary”) decreased, from 15% in 2005 to 9% in 2016. Similar changes were mirrored in the provinces and territories.
• In 2016, one-quarter (26%) of 25- to 64-year-olds in Canada had completed short cycle tertiary education, far greater than the average of 8% reported by the OECD.
• Canada’s average for completion of university education for 25- to 64-year-olds was 31%, a rate just above the OECD figure at 29%. In Canada, university degree refers to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral and equivalent degrees. 
• At the post-secondary non-tertiary level, which captures the traditionally male-dominated areas of trades, the proportion of men (14%) was double that of women (7%). The opposite was true at the college and university levels, with the gap more marked at college (29% for women vs 22% for men) than university (33% for women and 28% for men).
• Ninety-three percent of Canadian adults aged 25 to 34 had attained at least upper secondary education (a high school diploma) in 2016, compared with 86% for those aged 55 to 64, reflecting change in attainment patterns for high school completion over time. There were relatively small differences between provinces in the proportion of adults aged 25 to 34 with at least a high school diploma; 2016 figures for all provinces ranged from 92% to 95%.

A2 Upper secondary graduation

• Canada’s upper secondary graduation rate was 87% in 2015. The OECD average was 86%, and most OECD countries reported graduation rates of at least 80%. Within the OECD, Finland and Japan had the highest graduation rates at 99% and 98% respectively.  The upper secondary graduation rate corresponds to the probability that an individual will graduate from high school during his or her lifetime.
• In Canada, graduates under 25 years of age represented 93% of all graduates in 2015, compared with 80% for the OECD overall.
• Upper secondary graduation rates for females were higher than those for males in all provinces and territories, as well as in most of the OECD countries for which comparable data were available. In Canada, the rate for females was 91%; the rate for males, 84%.
• In Canada in 2015, successful completion of upper secondary programmes in public schools was 77%. This indicator measures the “on-time” graduation of the 2012/2013 cohort of Grade 10 students (Secondary III in Quebec), an indication of the efficiency of the public school system. Among the provinces and territories, the proportion of students who completed their education within the expected time varied considerably, from 17% in Nunavut to 84% in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Ontario.

A3 Labour market outcomes

• In Canada and other OECD countries, employment prospects increase with educational attainment. In 2016, Canada’s employment rate for adults aged 25 to 64 who had not completed upper secondary education (high school) was 58%. In and throughout Canada, as well as in the OECD countries overall, the 2015 employment rates among the 25- to 64-year-old population were clearly highest among individuals who had a “tertiary education”; that is, a college or university credential.
• In most OECD countries in 2016, the difference in employment rates between the sexes was less pronounced among university graduates compared with the upper secondary graduates. In Canada, a 12-percentage-point difference was observed between the employment rates for men and women in the upper secondary graduation category: 77% for men compared with 65% for women. Among university and college graduates, the male–female differences narrowed to around 6 percentage points.
• Employment rates dropped for young adults aged 25-34 with lower levels of education.  In 2016, 72% of young adults with upper secondary were employed versus 78% for this same age group in 2005.  This was not true for young adults with tertiary education, as between the two time periods, employment rates were the same. 
• In Canada, for 55-64-year-olds, the employment rate was higher in 2016 at every level of education than the rate observed in 2005 indicating that the older generation increasingly postponed retirement and continued working beyond age 55.  For most of the OECD countries the employment rate did not change for this age group during the same time period.

Chapter B: Financial resources invested in education

B1 Expenditure per student

• In 2014/2015, expenditure per student at the primary/secondary level was similar for Canada, other G7 countries and the OECD average.
• At $US 25,601, Canada’s expenditure per student at the university level was almost 55% higher than the OECD average of $US 16,674, but was similar to the averages from the United Kingdom and United States.

B2 Expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP

• With 6.0% of its GDP allocated to educational institutions in 2014, Canada devoted a higher share of its wealth to education than the OECD countries overall (an average of 5.2%). The share of GDP devoted to educational institutions varied from one province or territory to another. The allocation of financial resources to educational institutions is a collective choice, made by government, business, and individual students and their families. The share of GDP is partially influenced by the size of the school-age population and enrolment in education, as well as relative wealth.
• In all G7 countries, Canada included, and at the OECD average, the share of national wealth invested in education was larger for primary and secondary education than that for tertiary education in 2014.

B3 Distribution of expenditure on education

• In 2014, current expenditure accounted for most of the educational expenditure in Canada, in the provinces and territories and in all OECD countries for all levels of education. In Canada, it accounted for 93% of total expenditure at the primary and secondary levels, 95% at the short cycle tertiary (college) and postsecondary non-tertiary level, and 91% at the university level. At the postsecondary level, capital expenditure was 8% in Canada, compared with 11% for the OECD average.
• At all levels of education and in all provinces and territories, the compensation of staff (teaching and non-teaching) represented the largest proportion of current expenditure in education. In Canada, it accounted, on average, for 79% of current expenditure at the primary and secondary levels, 66% at the short cycle tertiary (college) and postsecondary non-tertiary level, and 67% at the university level. For postsecondary education, the Canadian and OECD averages were both 67%.
• At the primary and secondary levels, compensation of teachers accounted for the largest proportion of compensation of staff. In addition, other current expenditures (not related to compensation of teaching and non-teaching staff) were higher at the postsecondary level than at the primary and secondary levels.

Chapter C: Access to education, participation and progression

C1 International students

• The majority of international students in tertiary education in Canada were registered in Bachelor’s or equivalent level programs, and were from Asia. 
• Among G7 countries, Canada had a higher proportion of international students than Germany and Japan at all education levels. The patterns for France, the United Kingdom and the United States were more similar to Canada’s, except that they all had much higher proportions at the doctoral level, and also for the master’s level in the United Kingdom.

C2 Transitions to the labour market

• In 2017, the majority of young Canadians aged 15 to 19 years were in school (85%). For young adults 20 to 24 years of age, the percentage who had transitioned to the labour market and were employed (44%) was similar to that of those who were still pursuing their education (43%). For those in the 25-to-29 age group, most (71%) were not in school and were employed.
• In 2017, little variation was observed in the Canadian average of young NEETs between women (12%) and men (13%) in the 15-to-29 age group. However, when “unemployed” and “not in the labour force” data were examined separately within the young NEET population, there was a greater proportion of women (8%) than men (6%) who were not in the labour force, whereas more men (6%) than women (4%) were unemployed. This trend was observed in all provinces and in the OECD average.
• In Canada in 2017, a greater proportion of women (21%) than men (15%) aged 15 to 29 years worked while they were in school. This trend, seen in all provinces, is observed year after year.

Chapter D: The learning environment and organization of schools

D1 Instruction time

• In Canada, in 2016/2017, the total cumulative intended instruction time in formal classroom settings was 8,311 hours on average, between the ages of 6 and 14 (this includes the primary (ages 6 to 11) and lower secondary (ages 12 to 14) levels of education).  By comparison, total intended instruction time for the OECD countries for which data were available was 7,765 hours.  This was 545 fewer hours than the average total intended instruction time in all public institutions in Canada during the 2016/2017 school year.
• Total cumulative intended instruction time for students aged 6 to 14 varied by province and territory, ranging from 9,117 hours in the Northwest Territories to 7,739 hours in New Brunswick.

D2 Teachers’ salaries

• In 2014/2015, in Canada, salaries for full-time teachers in public elementary and secondary schools do not vary across levels of education – teachers are paid the same salaries regardless of whether they are teaching at the primary, lower or upper secondary level. By contrast, in many of the countries that recently reported to the OECD, teachers’ salaries tended to rise with the level of education taught.
• In lower secondary institutions, teachers at the top of their pay scales in Canada had the third highest average salaries ($US 65,621) among the G7 group of countries after Germany ($US 80,694) and the USA ($US 67,542).  Within Canada, equivalent teachers in the Northwest Territories ($US 81,741), Ontario ($US 71,197), Alberta ($US 70,814) and Newfoundland and Labrador ($US 67,386) received higher salaries than the Canadian average.
• In more than half of the provinces and territories in Canada, teachers in public elementary and secondary schools reached their maximum salary after 10 years’ experience—much sooner than their counterparts in other OECD countries.

D3 Teachers’ working time

• In Canada, primary school teachers taught an average of 797 hours per year in 2014/2015, compared with the OECD average of 794 hours. Figures varied by province and territory, ranging from 700 hours in New Brunswick to 905 hours in Alberta.
• Net annual teaching time was 742 hours at the lower secondary level (generally Grades 7 to 9) and 743 hours at the upper secondary level (generally Grades 10 to 12). These figures for Canada are higher than the averages for the OECD countries overall—30 hours higher at the lower secondary level and 81 hours at the upper secondary level.
• Net teaching time in Finland was included as a comparison because of this country’s high ranking in international academic assessments.  Teachers in Finland at the primary (677) and lower secondary (592) levels had a lower net teaching time than all of the G7 countries, Canada included.
• On average in Canada, net teaching time represented about 62% of teachers’ total working time. It was similar for lower and upper secondary levels taught (60%), and higher at the primary level (65%). This ratio and the pattern across levels of education taught were similar to the OECD average.

Chapter E: Participation in formal and/or non-formal education

E1 Insights from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC)

• Across OECD countries that participated in PIAAC, an average of 50% of all adults participated in formal and/or non-formal education in 2012/2015.  Canada’s average participation rate is higher than the OECD’s at 58%.  Among OECD and partner countries, the participation rates ranged from more than 60% in Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, and Sweden to less than 30% in Greece, Italy, Jakarta (Indonesia), the Russian Federation, and Turkey.
• Canada’s participation rate was similar for women (58%) and men (59%) aged 25 to 64 years, which was higher than the OECD averages (48% and 51%, respectively).
• The participation rates in formal and/or non-formal education for both men and women were below the Canadian average (58%) in Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Nunavut; however, in most provinces and territories, the participation rates for both men and women were above the Canadian average.
• In Canada, G7 countries, and on average among OECD countries, the most commonly cited barrier to participation in formal and/or non-formal education among adults aged 25 to 64 years was being too busy at work, ranging from 23% in France to 40% in Italy.
• In Canada, adults aged 25 to 64 years also cited child care or family responsibilities as a barrier to participation in formal and/or non-formal education. These rates were highest in Quebec (21%) and British Columbia (18%), but lowest in Prince Edward Island (8%), Newfoundland and Labrador (9%), and Yukon (9%).

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