of learning
Education Indicators in Canada: An International Perspective, 2009
A large majority (87%) of Canadians aged 25 to 64 had attained at least upper secondary education in 2007 (Table A.1.2.). Canada, along with the Slovak Republic, ranked third among OECD countries, just behind the Czech Republic (91%) and the United States (88%). The corresponding OECD average was 70%. It is important, however, to look at the change over time when considering the different cohorts that have completed at least upper secondary education. Overall, a comparison of education levels for the youngest (aged 25 to 34) and oldest (55 to 64) adults reveals a higher proportion of secondary graduates among the younger generation (Chart A.1.2).
Finland, France, Australia, Italy, and Mexico all posted intergenerational differences in excess of 20 percentage points. The increase in the proportion of secondary graduates was somewhat more modest in countries such as Germany and Switzerland, and there was no difference in the United States. Canada, one of the countries in which the education level is already fairly high, also registered a fairly modest increase in the proportion of such graduates in 2007: a difference of 13 percentage points between the 25-to-34 cohort and the 55-to-64 cohort. Approximately 91% of adults aged 25 to 34 had attained at least upper secondary education in Canada, compared with 78%
for the cohort aged 55 to 64.
There were relatively small differences between provinces in the proportion of persons aged 25 to 34 with at least one secondary school diploma; figures ranged from 87% in Manitoba to 93% in Ontario. But the gap between the 25-to-34 cohort and the 55-to-64 cohort reveals greater provincial differences (Chart A.1.2). This is certainly the case in Newfoundland and Labrador and in New Brunswick, which both registered a difference of more than 20 percentage points. Differences of less than 10 percentage points between the two age groups were observed in Alberta and British Columbia.
Chart A.1.1
Proportion of the 25- to 64-year-old population with tertiary-type A or advanced research programmes education, 2007
35
USA Ont. B.C. Can. AUS JPN Alta. Que. UKM
Note: International codes (e.g., AUS for Australia) are used here to label OECD member countries. See the “Notes to readers” for a complete list of these abbreviations and the corresponding country names.
Source: Table A.1.1.
10
25
30 30
SWE CHE Man. FIN N.S. Sask. P.E.I. N.B. FRA DEU MEX N.L. ITA
Educational attainment of the adult population A1
25 à 34 55 à 64
Concerning the proportion of the population that has attained tertiary-type A education/advanced research programmes as its highest level of education, the relative position occupied by Canada varies depending on the cohort observed. The data in Table A.1.3 suggest that if the trend were to continue, Canada would, in the course of generational renewal, lose ground over time in relation to other countries, based on the proportion of individuals between 25 and 64 years of age with tertiary-type A education/advanced research programme attainment. Canada ranks fourth among OECD countries in the proportion of adults in the 55-to-64 cohort (21%) with such an educational level (column 10). However, for the 25-to-34 cohort, Canada (29%) shared 12th place with Japan and the United Kingdom, and was behind Norway (41%), The Netherlands (35%), Korea (34%), New Zealand (33%), Denmark (32%), Finland (32%), Sweden (31%), the United States (31%), Australia (31%), Ireland (30%) and Poland (30%) (column 7).
Similar to what is observed for persons aged 25 to 34 with attainment of at least upper secondary education, the proportion of adults in this cohort with tertiary-type A or advanced research programme attainment showed little variation by province in 2007 (from 24% in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick to 28% in Nova Scotia, Quebec, and British Columbia). Saskatchewan and Ontario were the exceptions to this rule with 21% and 33%, respectively. Some provinces registered relatively large inter-cohort differences with respect to this type of education (Chart A.1.3). In both Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia, the gap between the 25-to-34 and 55-to-64 age groups was more than 10 percentage points. Differences of 5 percentage points or less are observed in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia.
Chart A.1.2
Population that has attained at least upper secondary education, by age group, 2007
Note: International codes (e.g., AUS for Australia) are used here to label OECD member countries. See the “Notes to readers” for a complete list of these abbreviations and the corresponding country names.
Source: Table A.1.2.
P.E.I. CHE FIN Que. Man. USA DEU FRA AUS OECD UKM ITA MEX
30 30
20 20
25 to 34 55 to 64
10 10
Education Indicators in Canada: An International Perspective, 2009
25 à 34 55 à 64 Chart A.1.3
Population that has attained at least tertiary-type A education, by age group, 2007
Note : International codes (e.g., AUS for Australia) are used here to label OECD member countries. See the “Notes to readers” for a complete list of these abbreviations and the corresponding country names.
Source : Table A.1.3.
Definitions, sources and methodologyyyyy
This indicator examines the educational attainment of different age groups. The percentage of the population represented by a given age group that has attained a particular education level is obtained by taking the number of persons in this age group who have received a diploma attesting to that level, dividing it by the total number of persons in this same age group, and then multiplying by 100.
The education level corresponds to the highest level of education an individual has attained. The designation of the different levels of schooling is based on the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED-97) (see “Notes to readers”). An individual must have successfully completed a programme at a given ISCED level to be considered as having attained that level of education. An individual who has not successfully completed a programme is assigned the preceding education level. For example, a secondary school graduate is considered to have attained ISCED level 3; a student who has dropped out, ISCED level 2.
The data on population and education level are drawn from the databases of the OECD and Eurostat, compiled from national labour force surveys. In Canada, the source is the Labour Force Survey (LFS), a monthly survey of approximately 50,000 households. It seeks to obtain a detailed and timely picture of the labour force throughout the country. The LFS allows proxy reporting, which means that information on the entire household can be collected from a single member of the household. In all, this type of reporting accounts for approximately 65% of all information collected.
LFS data on education levels do not lend themselves to making a precise delineation between “postsecondary non-tertiary education” and “tertiary-type B education programmes” (see “Notes to readers”). Thus, data reported for the population that has attained ISCED level 5B are overestimated, essentially because, owing to limitations of the LFS, the category includes some graduates who would normally be placed in different ISCED levels.
Note: The corresponding OECD indicator is A1, To what level have adults studied?.
25 to 34 55 to 64