Canada's educational portrait, 2016 Census of Population

Release date: November 29, 2017
Infographic: Canada's educational portrait, 2016 Census of Population
Description: Canada's educational portrait, 2016 Census of Population
Almost two-thirds of adults in Canada have completed postsecondary educationFootnote 1
Have completed… Women Men
Postsecondary education 67% 63%
Non-apprenticeship trades certificate 5% 7%
Apprenticeship certificateFootnote 2
2% 8%
College diploma 25% 19%
Bachelor's degree or higher 31% 26%

Top 5 major postsecondary fields of study

Business is the most common field of study of both women and men

Women

  1. Business
  2. Health
  3. Education
  4. Personal and culinary services
  5. Social sciences

Men

  1. Business
  2. Mechanic and repair technologies
  3. Construction trades
  4. Engineering
  5. Engineering technologies
Where are recent immigrants obtaining their degree?
Country of recent immigrants Canada Birth country Other country
India 8% 86% 6%
Philippines 1% 98% 1%
China 34% 54% 11%
Iran 15% 77% 8%
Pakistan 8% 81% 10%
Median earnings in 2015Footnote 3 by highest level of education
Level of education Median earnings
Women Men
Bachelor's $68,342 $82,082
College $48,599 $72,955
High school $43,254 $67,965
Apprenticeship $38,230 $55,774

Aboriginal population

Percentage with high school or postsecondary qualifi­cation
Aboriginal population % with high school or postsecondary qualification in 2016 % point increase from 2006 to 2016
First Nations people 70% +8.2%
Métis 82% +8.2%
Inuit 56% +7.0%

The data in this infographic represent the population aged 25 to 64.

Source: Statistics Canada, 2016 Census of Population.

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