Highest Level of Educational Attainment, 2006

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Abstract

The map shows (by census division and census subdivision) the level of educational attainment of individuals aged 15 and older, classified into the following five levels of attainment:

• Less than high school (no certificate, diploma or degree)
• High school certificate or equivalent
• Apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma (including 'centres de formation professionnelle')
• College, CEGEP or other non-university certificate or diploma
• University certificate, diploma or degree:  university certificate or diploma below bachelor level, bachelor's degree; university certificate or diploma above bachelor level; degree in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or optometry; master's degree; earned doctorate.

Each person is classified according to the highest level completed. For example, a person holding both a college diploma and a university degree would be counted in the 'university certificate, diploma or degree' category.

The 2006 Census enumerated 13 012 475 adults aged 15 and over whose highest level of educational attainment was a trades certificate or diploma; a college, CEGEP or non-university certificate or diploma; or a university certificate, diploma or degree in 2006. This was an increase of 32% from 9 864 970 in 2001. In 2006, 23% of Canadians aged 15 and over had completed a university certificate, diploma or degree, 17% had completed a college, CEGEP or non-university certificate or diploma and 11% had completed a trades certificate or diploma. The proportion of the population aged 15 and over with a high school diploma or equivalent as their highest credential was 26% and those with less than a high school diploma or equivalent was 24%.

The Majority of University Graduates Lived in Urban Areas

Urban areas tend to have different educational profiles than the rest of the country. While 64% of Canadians 15 years of age and older lived in a census metropolitan area (CMA) in 2006, these large urban areas accounted for 79% of the Canadian population having a university degree (at the Bachelor's level or above), but for only 55% of those having a trades certificate.

The proportion of adults aged 15 and over with a university degree (at the Bachelor's level or above) surpassed the national average of 18% in 16 of the 33 census metropolitan areas, including the five largest – Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Ottawa–Gatineau and Calgary. About 29% of the population of Ottawa–Gatineau in this age group had a university degree as their highest certification, the highest proportion of all census metropolitan areas. It was followed by Toronto, where university graduates represented 27% of the population, and Calgary and Vancouver, both at 25%.

The proportion of the population (aged 15 and over) with a college diploma tended to be above the national average in the smaller census metropolitan areas, and below the national average in the larger census metropolitan areas. For example, the four CMAs with the largest proportions of their populations having a college, CEGEP or non-university diploma as their highest certification were Barrie at 23.6%, Sudbury (23.1%), Peterborough (21.8%) and Oshawa (21.6%). Of the 33 CMAs, these four were ranked 21st, 23rd, 33rd and 15th respectively.

A higher proportion of the population had trades certificates in rural areas than urban

Compared to urban areas of Canada, rural communities had larger proportions of their populations with a trades certificate as their highest certification. About 14% of rural residents aged 15 and over had completed a trades certificate, compared with 10% of urban residents.
The proportion of the population with a trades certificate equalled or exceeded the national average in nine census metropolitan areas: Saguenay, Trois-Rivières, Sherbrooke, Québec, Kelowna, Thunder Bay, Montréal, Abbotsford and Edmonton.

The Daily is Statistics Canada's official release bulletin. The Daily for March 4, 2008, marked the public release of this census variable. Highlight tables allowing users to perform simple rank and sort functions with the data at various levels of geography are available for this variable here: Education Highlight Tables, 2006 Census. More information on this variable and all education variables for 2006 can be found at Education Reference Guide, 2006 Census.

The text was adapted from Statistics Canada, Educational Portrait of Canada, 2006 Census, Catalogue number 97-560-XIE2006001. Statistics Canada information is used with the permission of Statistics Canada. Information on the availability of the wide range of data from Statistics Canada can be obtained from the Statistics Canada's Regional Offices, its World Wide Web site at www.statcan.gc.ca, and its toll free access number is 1-800-263-1136.