Between 11 and 15 96,563
Between 5 and 10 110,412
Under 53 6,458
Between 16 and 18 43,662
Between 19 and 24 5,428 25 and more 718
YT
NT NU
BC
AB
SK MB
QC
NL2
NB NS PE 67,855
36,383 36,881
3,028
400
1,347 52,071
5,635 9,476
6,629 First Nations
Métis
Inuit 78%
19%3%
100%
ON
88%
14%6%
11% 66%
23%
75%
25%
Legend
43,536
A total of 263,241263,241 public-school students identified with one or more
Indigenous group(s) (First Nations, Métis, Inuit)1.
INDIGENOUS STUDENT ENROLMENTS, ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY PUBLIC SCHOOLS, PROVINCES AND TERRITORIES,
2017-18
0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000
Junior Kindergarten Kindergarten Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12 Ungraded
Grade 12
Grade 12 has the highest number of
Indigenous public-school students (25,912)(25,912). 6,146 (2.3% of total) 6,146 (2.3% of total) public-school Indigenous students were 19 or older.
NU NT MB SK BC AB NS NL ON PE NB
94% 65% 20% 20% 12% 8% 6% 5% 2% 2% 1%
Proportion of public-school students identifying with one or more Indigenous group(s) by province or territory, 2017-18
1 Please note that data for some provinces and territories are not available. Please see the Notes on page 2 for more details.
2 Newfoundland and Labrador provided data for the 2018-19 academic year.
3 Only for students enrolled in Junior Kindergarten and in Kindergarten.
Indigenous student enrolments, elementary and secondary public schools, provinces and territories, 2017-18
Background
Indigenous education is a priority for ministers of education, a commitment that was reaffirmed in July 2019 at the annual meeting of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), held in Victoria, British Columbia, where the CMEC Indigenous Education Plan, 2019–22 was approved. The plan focuses on four priority areas:
1. mobilizing and disseminating provincial/territorial and international successful practices and proven actions to improve Indigenous education
2. revitalizing Indigenous languages and strengthening Indigenous culture and identity through education 3. teaching excellence in Indigenous education
4. Indigenous student success and well-being in education
This infographic is derived from the results of a data collection project coordinated through the Canadian Education Statistics Council (CESC), a long-standing partnership between CMEC and Statistics Canada, on the number of Indigenous elementary-secondary students in public schools across Canada.
Methodology
Provincial and territorial ministries and departments of education were asked to provide Indigenous elementary-
secondary student enrolment data for the 2017-18 school year. Wherever possible, these data were collected by identity (i.e., First Nations, Métis, and Inuit), grade, and age.
Data were submitted by eleven provinces and territories: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.
Five provinces and territories shared data on number of students disaggregated by Indigenous group(s): Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Nunavut, and Northwest Territories.
Notes
• Quebec does not ask an Indigenous or visible minority question as part of the enrolment process for its education system, which means it cannot report the number of Indigenous students. The only such kind of data collected by Quebec’s education department would be concerning students who live in communities covered by an agreement.
The data are therefore far from exhaustive. Quebec is actively looking into a method for identifying Indigenous students from the data it has on students enrolled in its education system.
• Newfoundland and Labrador began reporting the number of Indigenous students during fall 2017, and was only able to provide enrolment data based on voluntary self-identification for the 2018-19 school year. The number of Indigenous students does not include three schools on federal Reserves that are administered by First Nations education authorities.
• Data on the number of Indigenous students in New Brunswick are sourced from the nominal roll of First Nation students who live on a First Nation community and whose communities cover their tuition fees to the province. All of the Indigenous students being reported in the data collection project are First Nation students. The numbers of Inuit and Métis students, as well as the number of First Nation students living off community, are not reported. Therefore, the number of Indigenous students in New Brunswick is under-reported.
