Aboriginal Peoples: Fact Sheet for Nova Scotia Aboriginal Peoples: Fact Sheet for Nova Scotia

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About 2% of Aboriginal people in Canada live in Nova Scotia

• Numbering 33,845, about 2% of the Aboriginal identity population in Canada lived in Nova Scotia in 2011. They made up 4% of the province’s total population.
• Three in ten (29%) Aboriginal people in Nova Scotia resided in Halifax, representing 3% of the total population living there. Cape Breton had the province’s highest proportion of Aboriginal people: 6%.
• Nova Scotia was home to 21,895 First Nations people, 10,050 Métis, and 695 Inuit, with the rest reporting other^{Note 1} Aboriginal identities (980) or more than one Aboriginal identity (225). From 2006 to 2011, the First Nations population in Nova Scotia increased by 44%, while the Métis population rose by 31%, and the Inuit population more than doubled.^{Note 2}
• Of those who identified as First Nations people in 2011, 59% or 12,910 reported being a Treaty Indian or a Registered Indian as defined by the Indian Act of Canada. Four in ten (41% or 8,875) First Nations people (68% of First Nations people who were Treaty or Registered Indians, or 8,775 individuals) lived on a reserve.

Aboriginal population younger than non-Aboriginal

• About four in ten (43%) Aboriginal people were under the age of 25, compared with 28% of the non-Aboriginal population. Almost half (46%) of First Nations people were in this age group (53% of those living on a reserve and 42% of the off-reserve population), as were 35% of Métis and 42% of Inuit.
• In 2011, the median age of First Nations people was 27.5; the on-reserve population was younger (22.9) than those living off reserve (31.1). Métis had a median age of 36.6; that of Inuit was 31.4. All three groups were younger than the non-Aboriginal population, whose median age was 43.9.

Almost half of Aboriginal children live with both parents

• In Nova Scotia, 41% of First Nations children aged 14 and younger lived in a family with both their parents in 2011, as did 61% of Métis children and 32% of Inuit children. The corresponding percentage for non-Aboriginal children was 69%. About 44% of First Nations, 31% of Métis and 61% of Inuit children lived in a lone-parent family, higher rates than for their non-Aboriginal peers (23%).
• In 2011, 2% of Aboriginal children aged 14 and younger were in foster care; at 3%, the percentage was highest for First Nations children living on reserve. Moreover, of all Nova Scotia children in foster care in 2011, 23% were Aboriginal children, the majority of whom were First Nations children.

On-reserve First Nations people most likely to live in crowded homes and homes requiring major repairs

• In 2011, 10% of on-reserve and 2% of off-reserve First Nations people in Nova Scotia lived in crowded homes, that is, with more than one person per room. Among Métis, the percentage was 1%, and among Inuit, 3%. The comparable figure for the non-Aboriginal population was 1%.
• Almost one in four (23%) First Nations people, 15% of Métis and 18% of Inuit lived in homes in need of major repairs; the rate was highest for First Nations people living on a reserve (34%).

Over half of on-reserve First Nations people speak an Aboriginal language

• In Nova Scotia, 56% of First Nations people living on a reserve reported the ability to conduct a conversation in an Aboriginal language, a much higher rate than that among off-reserve First Nations people (3%). The Aboriginal language most commonly spoken by First Nations people was Mi’kmaq.
• The number of First Nations people who reported being able to converse in an Aboriginal language exceeded the number who reported an Aboriginal mother tongue, which suggests acquisition of an Aboriginal language as a second language.
• Based on results of the Aboriginal Peoples Survey,^{Note 3} 61% of off-reserve First Nations people and 30% of Métis^{Note 4} aged 6 and older reported that speaking and understanding an Aboriginal language was important to them.

More than half have postsecondary qualifications

• In 2011, 59% of Aboriginal people aged 25 to 64 in Nova Scotia had a certificate, diploma or degree from a trade school, college or university: 56% of First Nations people, 66% of Métis and 68% of Inuit. The comparable percentage for their non-Aboriginal counterparts was 64%.
• Among those with postsecondary credentials, First Nations people, Métis and Inuit were more likely than non-Aboriginal graduates to have completed programs below the bachelor’s level (trades or college programs).
• In 2011, 21% of First Nations people aged 25 to 64, 16% of Métis and 17% of Inuit did not have a certificate, diploma or degree. The corresponding percentage for the non-Aboriginal population was 14%.

Employment rates and median total income increase with education

• In 2011, the employment rates of First Nations people, Métis and Inuit aged 25 to 64 in Nova Scotia who did not have a certificate, diploma or degree were 37.7%, 45.7% and 30.0% respectively. Employment rates were higher for those with further education. For example, among those with postsecondary credentials, the employment rate of First Nations people was 72.3%, while that of Métis was 78.3% and that of Inuit, 92.5%.

• Median total income^{Note 5} was also higher for those with higher education levels. Among First Nations people aged 25 to 64, median total income (rounded to the nearest $1,000) ranged from $12,000 for those with no certificate, diploma or degree to $29,000 for those with postsecondary credentials. The range for Métis was from $18,000 to $37,000 and for Inuit from $11,000 to $46,000.

More than half rated their health as excellent or very good

• Based on results of the Aboriginal Peoples Survey, more than half (63%) the Aboriginal population aged 12 and older in Nova Scotia rated their health as excellent or very good in 2012 (61% of First Nations people living off reserve and 64% of Métis).
• First Nations people living off reserve and Métis aged 12 to 24 had overall health ratings higher than their non-Aboriginal peers.^{Note 6} Among those aged 25 to 44, the reverse was true.

• The majority (64%) of the Aboriginal identity population (61% of off-reserve First Nations people and 66% of Métis) aged 18 and older reported excellent or very good mental health.^{Note 7} The comparable percentage for the non-Aboriginal population was 72%.
• Three-quarters (75%) of off-reserve First Nations people and 73% of Métis aged 12 and older reported that they had been diagnosed with at least one chronic condition. The corresponding percentage for the non-Aboriginal population was 62%.
• Among Aboriginal people, commonly reported conditions included arthritis excluding fibromyalgia (28%), high blood pressure (25%), bowel disorders (15%^{Note E: Use with caution}) and asthma (12%). In addition, 17% reported an anxiety disorder and 13%^{Note E: Use with caution} reported a mood disorder.

One-quarter of off-reserve First Nations people smoked daily

• In 2012, 27%^{Note E: Use with caution} of off-reserve First Nations people aged 12 and older in Nova Scotia reported that they smoked daily, as did 21%^{Note E: Use with caution} of Métis. The comparable percentage for the non-Aboriginal population was 18%.

• For those 12 and older, the rate of heavy drinking (five or more drinks on one occasion at least once a month in the 12 months preceding the survey) was 30% for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. At the same time, 29% of off-reserve First Nations people and Métis were non-drinkers (consumed no alcohol in the 12 months preceding the survey), compared with 25% of the non-Aboriginal population.  

This fact sheet was prepared by Shirley Li of the Social and Aboriginal Statistics Division of Statistics Canada.