Education Indicators in Canada: An International Perspective, 2018
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 2017, 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 2017. Similar changes were mirrored in the provinces and territories.
• In 2017, one-quarter (26%) of 25- to 64-year-olds in Canada had completed short cycle tertiary education, far greater than the average of 7% reported by the OECD.
• Canada's average for completion of university education for 25- to 64-year-olds was 31%, the same as the OECD average. 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%). A larger proportion of women reported having college and university level of education, with the gap more marked at college (29% for women vs 22% for men) than university (34% for women vs 29% for men).
• Ninety-three percent of Canadian adults aged 25 to 34 had attained at least upper secondary education (a high school diploma) in 2017, compared with 86% for those aged 55 to 64, reflecting change in attainment patterns for high school completion over time. There were differences observed between provinces and territories in the proportion of adults aged 25 to 34 with at least a high school diploma; 2017 figures for all provinces and territories ranged from 56% to 96%.

A2 On-time and extended graduation rate

• In 2015/2016, over three quarters (79%) of students in Canada completed high school within the three year period after starting Grade 10 ("secondary 3").
• Across provinces and territories, the proportion of students who completed high school in the expected time ranged from 55% in Northwest Territories to 86% in New Brunswick.
• In Canada, a larger proportion of females (83%) completed high school in the expected time than that of males (75%). This pattern is observed in all provinces and territories. The largest difference in the on-time high school graduation rate between males and females was found in Quebec with a 12 percentage point difference, followed by Northwest Territories (10 percentage point difference).
• By providing students who began Grade 10 in 2011/2012 with an additional two years to complete their high school education, the graduation rate increased by 11 percentage points. The additional proportion of students that graduated after the two year extended period ranged from 8 percentage point difference in Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Manitoba, to 13 percentage point difference in Ontario.
• Male students who benefited the most from the two additional years to complete their high school education were found in Ontario (15 percentage point difference) and Quebec (13 percentage point difference). Similarly, females who benefited the most from the two additional years were found in Ontario and Quebec (11 percentage point difference), followed by British Columbia with 10 percentage point difference.

A3 Upper secondary graduation

• Canada's upper secondary graduation rate was 88% in 2015/2016. The OECD average was 87%, and most OECD countries reported graduation rates of at least 80%. Within the OECD, Finland and Japan had the highest graduation rates at 101% and 95% 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 83% of all graduates in 2015/2016, compared with 81% 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, 85%.

A4 International students

• In 2015/2016, 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.
• In 2015/2016, the top destinations for Canadians who went abroad to study were the United States (60%), the United Kingdom (13%), Australia (8%), and France (3%).

A5 Transitions to the labour market

• In 2018, the majority of young Canadians aged 15 to 19 years were in school (83%). 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 (73%) were not in school and were employed.
• In 2018, no variation was observed in the Canadian average of young NEETs between women and men (12%) 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 (9%) than men (7%) who were not in the labour force, whereas more men (6%) than women (3%) were unemployed. This trend was observed in all provinces and in the OECD average.
• In Canada in 2018, 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.

A6 Labour market outcomes

• In Canada and other OECD countries, employment prospects increase with educational attainment. In 2017, Canada's employment rate for adults aged 25 to 64 who had not completed upper secondary education (high school) was 56%. Throughout Canada, as well as in the OECD countries overall, the 2017 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 2017, the difference in employment rates between the sexes was less pronounced among university graduates compared with the upper secondary graduates. In Canada, a 13-percentage-point difference was observed between the employment rates for men and women in the upper secondary graduation category: 78% 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 2017, 74% of young adults with upper secondary were employed versus 77% for this same age group in 2006. This was not true for young adults with tertiary education, as between the two time periods, employment rates were similar (85% in 2006; 86% in 2017).
• In Canada, for 55-64-year-olds, the employment rate was higher in 2017 at every level of education than the rate observed in 2006 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 2015/2016, expenditure per student at the primary/secondary level was similar for Canada, other G7 countries and the OECD average.
• For the university level, at US$25,659, Canada's figure was 55% higher than the OECD average of US$16,518, but was third highest in the G7 behind the United Kingdom and United States.
• Similar to the OECD averages, in Canada and every province except Quebec, expenditure per student was lowest at the primary/secondary level, higher at the college level and highest at the university level. In Quebec, college expenditure per student was slightly lower than that of expenditure per student at the primary/secondary level.

B2 Expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP

• With 6% of its GDP allocated to educational institutions in 2015/2016, Canada devoted a higher share of its wealth to education than the OECD countries overall (an average of 5%). 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 2015/2016.

B3 Distribution of expenditure on education

• In 2015/2016, 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 92% at the university level. At the postsecondary level, capital expenditure was 7% in Canada, compared with 12% 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 80% of current expenditure at the primary and secondary levels, 66% at the short cycle tertiary (college) and postsecondary non-tertiary level, and 66% at the university level. For postsecondary education, the Canadian average of 66% was similar to that of Germany (67%), but slightly less than the OECD average at 68%.
• 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: The learning environment and organization of schools

C1 Instruction time

• In Canada, in 2017/2018, the total cumulative intended instruction time in formal classroom settings was 11,100 hours on average, between the ages of 6 and 17 (this includes the primary (ages 6 to 11), lower secondary (ages 12 to 14), and upper secondary (ages 15 to 17) levels of education). By comparison, total intended instruction time for the OECD countries for which data were available was 8,820 hours. This was 2,280 fewer hours than the average total intended instruction time in all public institutions in Canada during the 2017/2018 school year.
• Total cumulative intended instruction time for students aged 6 to 17 varied by province and territory, ranging from 9,900 hours in Quebec to 11,655 in Manitoba.

C2 Teachers' working time

• In Canada, primary school teachers taught an average of 798 hours per year in 2016/2017, compared with the OECD average of 784 hours. Figures varied by province and territory, ranging from 700 hours in New Brunswick to 905 hours in Alberta.
• Net annual teaching time was 745 hours at the lower secondary level (generally Grades 7 to 9) and 746 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—42 hours higher at the lower secondary level and 89 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 (673) and lower secondary (589) 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.

C3 Teachers' salaries

• In 2016/2017, 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$65,474) among the G7 group of countries after Germany (US$83,451) and the USA (US$68,052). Within Canada, equivalent teachers in the Northwest Territories (US$82,544), Ontario (US$70,674), Alberta (US$69,426) and Newfoundland and Labrador (US$68,048) 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.

Chapter D: Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDG) 4: Quality Education

• Canada's participation rate of adults in formal and non-formal education (58%) was higher than the OECD average (49%). In Canada, women and men participated in formal and non-formal education at an equal rate based on the gender parity index.
• In 2016, Canada's participation rate in organized learning one year before the official entry age (97%) was higher than the OECD average (93%), the United States (91%) and Japan (91%). The mandatory primary entry age in most provinces and territories is 6 years old (grade 1). In most provinces and territories, participation rates for 5-year-olds were above 90% (most 5-year-olds have started kindergarten).^{Note 1} The participation rate was at 100% in Saskatchewan and 99% in New Brunswick and Alberta. The lowest rates were found in Prince Edward Island (91%), Yukon (88%) and Northwest Territories (86%).
• In 2015, more students in Canada reached a minimum proficiency level in mathematics and reading than the OECD or G20 average. In Canada, more females achieved at least a minimum proficiency level in reading than males.
• In Canada, parental educational attainment played a larger role than gender in determining the proportion of adults who achieved a fixed level of proficiency in numeracy skills. Those whose parents had lower levels of educational attainment were less likely to attain this level of proficiency.

Note

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