Education Indicators in Canada: An International Perspective 2015
Highlights Highlights

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 to 54% in 2014, 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% to 10%. Similar changes were mirrored in the provinces.
• In 2014, one-quarter (25%) 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. In Canada, short cycle tertiary education includes non-university certificates or diplomas from community colleges, CEGEPs, or schools of nursing, as well as university certificates below the bachelor’s level. The proportion of women who had successfully completed short cycle tertiary education (29%) was higher than the proportion for men (21%). In the traditionally male-dominated areas of trades and apprenticeship (“postsecondary non-tertiary” education), attainment was more common among men (15%) than women (7%).
• The OECD average for completion of university education for 25- to 64-year-olds was 28%, a rate similar to Canada’s figure. In Canada, university degree refers to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral and equivalent degrees.  The gender gap was less pronounced at this level of educational attainment, with figures of 30% for women and 27% for men.
• Ninety-three percent of Canadian adults aged 25 to 34 had attained at least upper secondary education in 2014, compared with 85% 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; 2014 figures for all provinces ranged from 90% to 95%.

A2 Upper secondary graduation

• Canada’s upper secondary graduation rate was 85% in 2012. The OECD average was also 85%, and most OECD countries reported graduation rates of at least 80%. 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 95% of all graduates in 2012, compared with 97% 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 88%; the rate for males, 82%.
• In Canada in 2012, successful completion in public schools was 73%. This indicator measures the “on-time” graduation of the 2009/2010 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 20% in Nunavut to 84% in Nova Scotia.

A3 Labour market outcomes

• In Canada and other OECD countries, employment prospects increase with educational attainment. In 2014, Canada’s employment rate for adults aged 25 to 64 who had not completed upper secondary education (high school) was 56%. In and throughout Canada, as well as in the OECD countries overall, the 2014 employment rates among the 25- to 64-year-old population were clearly highest—around 82% and beyond—among individuals who had a “tertiary education”; that is, a college or university credential.
• Between 2005 and 2014, employment rates were consistently higher among individuals with a tertiary education compared with those who had not attained that level of education, both throughout Canada and the OECD countries overall.
• In most OECD countries in 2014, 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 5 and 7 percentage points, respectively.

Chapter B: Financial resources invested in education

B1 Expenditure per student

• In Canada in 2011/2012, expenditure per student at the combined primary and secondary level ($9,865 US dollars using purchasing power parity) was above the OECD average of $8,982, which also included post-secondary non-tertiary.
• In Canada at the primary and secondary level, the portion of expenditure per student allocated to core services represented 95% of the total expenditure per student. This was similar to the average proportion of 94 % spent on core services in the OECD countries. Expenditure on educational core services includes all spending directly related to education; i.e., on teachers, school buildings, teaching materials, books and administration of schools.
• The total expenditure per student on university education (Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral levels or equivalent, including research and development) in Canada was $ 25,503 (US dollars). This was the second highest among the OECD countries, behind Luxemburg at $34,739 (U.S dollars). The comparable OECD average was $15,111, which is just below two thirds of the Canadian expenditure.
• In 2011/2012 expenditure per student at the university level was more than twice that of the primary/secondary level in Canada.

B2 Expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP

• With 6.4% of its GDP allocated to educational institutions in 2011, Canada devoted a higher share of its wealth to education than the OECD countries overall (an average of 5.3%). 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 2011, 42% of the share of GDP that Canada invested in education was allocated to the tertiary sector. Among the OECD countries, Canada, along with the United States (43%) and Chile (41%), allocated the largest share of education spending to tertiary education.

B3 Distribution of expenditure on education

• The proportions of education expenditure allocated to current spending in Canada in 2011 were: 93% for primary and secondary education, and 90% for all postsecondary. These figures are similar to the average proportions reported by the OECD for its member countries: 93% and 90%, respectively. Current expenditure reflects spending on school resources that are used each year for the operation of schools.
• For primary and secondary education, the compensation of staff (79%)—particularly teachers (64%)—accounted for the largest proportion of current expenditure in Canada in 2011, a situation mirrored in all other OECD countries. At the postsecondary level in Canada, 67% of current expenditure was devoted to compensation of all staff; more than half of which (38%) was spent on compensation for teachers. In all provinces and territories, the proportion of current expenditure allocated to compensation of all staff employed in education was larger in the primary and secondary education sector than in the postsecondary sector.
• In Canada, 11% of education expenditure for postsecondary was allocated to capital expenditure; the OECD average was 10%. For primary and secondary education, the corresponding figures for Canada and the OECD were both 7%. Capital expenditure reflects spending on assets that last longer than one year and includes spending on the construction, renovation and major repair of buildings.

Chapter C: Access to education, participation and progression

C1 International students

• In 2012, there were 134,568 international students registered in tertiary programmes in Canada. They accounted for 9% of all students enrolled in tertiary education, a proportion very similar to the OECD average (9%). A vast majority of them (56%) were in Bachelor's or equivalent level programmes. “International students” includes non-permanent residents, such as those with a study permit. It also includes those enrolled in a Canadian program from a Canadian institution that is not located in Canada (also known as “offshore students”) as well as non-Canadian students studying via the internet.
• Students from Asia accounted for more than half (63%) of the international students in Canada in 2012. This high proportion of Asian students was mirrored in the OECD countries, where Asia was generally the largest source of international students, accounting for over half (53%) of the total. Australia (85%), United States (74%) and New Zealand (70%) had a significantly larger percentage of international students coming from Asia than the OECD average.
• Students from China represented the largest group of international students from an individual country of origin, accounting for 29% of all international students in Canada, followed by students from India (9%), France (8%), the United States (6%) and South Korea (4%).

C2 Transitions to the labour market

• In Canada in 2014, 44% of young adults aged 15 to 29 were still involved “in education”. The most recent international average (2014) for the OECD countries was 48%. The proportion of females (47%) was higher than that for males (42%). The proportion of “in education” 15- to 29-year-olds remained quite stable in Canada over the 2002-to-2014 period.
• In 2014, 17% of 15- to 19-year-olds in Canada were no longer pursuing a formal education; the comparable OECD average (2014) was 14%. Many in this 15-to-19 age group were employed, and some were high school graduates who had not engaged in any further education.
• The “not in education” 15- to 29-year-old population includes those who are neither employed nor in education (or training), referred to as the “NEET” population. In 2014, 13% of Canada’s population aged 15 to 29 was neither employed nor in education, compared with the OECD average of 16%. In Canada and in the OECD overall, the highest proportion of individuals who were not in education and not in employment was in the 25-to-29 age group: 18%, which compares with the OECD’s 21%.

Chapter D: The learning environment and organization of schools

D1 Instruction time

• In Canada, in 2014/2015, the total intended instruction time in formal classroom settings was 8,306 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 7,626 hours.  This was 680 fewer hours than the average total intended instruction time in all public institutions in Canada during the 2014/2015 school year.
• Total intended  instruction time for students aged 6 to 17 (primary, lower secondary and upper secondary levels)  varied by province and territory, ranging from 12, 252 hours in the Northwest Territories to 9,900 hours in Quebec (where upper secondary ends at age 16).

D2 Teachers’ salaries

• In Canada, the salary for teachers at the beginning of their careers, in public elementary and secondary schools was about $51,150 Canadian dollars in 2012/2013, ranging from $40,952 in Quebec to $72,993 in the Northwest Territories.
• In 2012/2013, teachers’ salaries in and throughout Canada were similar regardless of the level of education being taught. Overall in Canada, average salaries for teachers at the beginning of their career  (presented in US dollars for international comparisons) were $39,660 in both primary and lower secondary institutions, and $39,826 for those in upper secondary institutions. The comparable OECD averages (US dollars) were all lower, and they also varied by level taught, at $29,807, $31,013 and $32,260, respectively.
• In over one 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 795 hours per year in 2012/2013, compared with the OECD average of 772 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—48 hours higher at the lower secondary level and 100 hours at the upper secondary level.
• On average in Canada, net teaching time represented about 60% 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:  Skills proficiencies of adults

E1 Insights from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) – skills and readiness to use information and communication technologies (ICT) for problem-solving

• Canadians with higher levels of educational attainment tended to have higher levels of ICT and problem-solving skills. In 2012, younger Canadians had higher levels of ICT and problem-solving skills, but older Canadians fared better than their OECD counterparts. Canadian women fared better than their OECD counterparts, with 34% of women in Canada having had good ICT and problem-solving skills (group 4) compared to 29% for women in the OECD.
• The proportion of Canadians with jobs requiring complex ICT skills at work that had good ICT and problem-solving skills was comparable to the 2012 OECD average. In Canada and the OECD, those who reported a stronger sense of confidence in having the computer skills needed to do their job well had higher ICT and problem-solving skills.
• In 2012, Canadians with the highest levels of ICT and problem-solving skills (group 4) reported the highest rate of participation in employer-sponsored formal and/or non-formal education.  For most Canadian provinces and territories, these rates were also higher than the OECD average participation rate for individuals in group 4.

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