StatCan figures confirm Nunavut’s low rates of schooling

In this Statistics Canada graph, you can see that there has been a modest improvement in the percentage of Nunavummiut who hold high school diplomas or equivalencies.

In this Statistics Canada graph, you can see that there has been some improvement in the educational attainment of Nunavummiut since 2006, although the rates continue to be much lower than overall in Canada.

With the exception of Iqaluit, Nunavut lags way behind the rest of Canada with respect to educational attainment, Statistics Canada confirmed last week in a new set of figures gathered in 2016.

In Canada, nearly nine in 10 people between the ages of 25 and 64 have a high school diploma or equivalency certificate and about six in 10 have some post-secondary education, StatCan said.

But in some Nunavut communities, the number of people within that age bracket with high school diplomas is at least three times lower that among people of the same age groups across Canada.

An even smaller proportion of people in Nunavut have postsecondary education.

According to the 2016 data, 74.5 per cent of Iqaluit residents, aged 25 to 64, or about three in four Iqalungmiut, had a high school diploma or equivalency certificate, compared with 86.3 per cent overall in Canada.

That was the highest figure recorded anywhere in Nunavut.

In Iqaluit, about half of those graduates also have some postsecondary education: 28.8 per cent of Iqalummiut aged 25 to 64 had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2016, while 23.6 per cent had a college, CEGEP or other non-university certificate or diploma as their highest level of education, and 3.4 per cent had an apprenticeship certificate as their highest level of education.

Nearly one in five who received a B.A. degree earned it outside Canada.

While Iqaluit’s standard is impressive for Nunavut, it’s still lower than in Canada, where about two in three people have completed postsecondary education of some sort.

Overall, 47.8 per cent of Nunavummiut had a high school diploma or equivalency certificate in 2016, compared with 86.3 per cent in Canada.

In Nunavut, 14.3 per cent had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2016, while 19.3 per cent had a college, CEGEP or other non-university certificate or diploma as their highest level of education, and 3.6 per cent had an apprenticeship certificate.

In Nunavut, only 10 per cent of women with a bachelor’s degree or higher had studied science, technology, engineering or mathematics, compared with 19.4 per cent for men.

Most women in Nunavut studied business, humanities, health, arts, social sciences and education.

Compared to the rest of Canada, a higher proportion of Nunavummiut earned college and university degrees in education, but in health-related fields, the proportion was more than two times fewer.

You can also find big regional differences in the StatCan educational indicators:

• In the Baffin region: 54.5 per cent had a high school diploma or equivalency certificate, and 17.8 per cent had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2016, while 20.8 per cent had a college, CEGEP or other non-university certificate or diploma as their highest level of education, and 7.9 per cent had an apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma.

• In the Kivalliq, 40.7 per cent had a high school diploma or equivalency certificate, and 10 per cent had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2016, while 17.3 per cent had a college, CEGEP or other non-university certificate or diploma as their highest level of education, and 10 per cent had an apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma.

• In the Kitikmeot, 37.6 per cent had a high school diploma or equivalency certificate, and 10 per cent had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2016, while 17.9 per cent had a college, CEGEP or other non-university certificate or diploma as their highest level of education, and 14.3 per cent had an apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma.

There are also differences between Nunavut communities, with six smaller communities showing that less than 30 per cent of residents had a high school diploma or equivalency certificate:

• 23.5 per cent in Whale Cove

• 24.1 per cent in Naujaat

• 25.4 per cent in Hall Beach

• 26.4 per cent in Kugaaruk

• 26.8 per cent in Taloyoak

• 29.7 per cent of people in Chesterfield Inlet

However, 59 per cent of those residing in the Kivalliq regional hub of Rankin Inlet—about two in three—had a high school diploma or equivalency certificate.

In Rankin Inlet, 15.4 per cent also had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2016, while 24.5 per cent had a college, CEGEP or other non-university certificate or diploma as their highest level of education, and 9.2 per cent had an apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma.

And, in the Kitikmeot’s regional hub of Cambridge Bay, 50 per cent of its residents had a high school diploma or equivalency certificate.

In Cambridge Bay, 13.6 per cent of people had a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2016, while 23.3 per cent had a college, CEGEP or other non-university certificate or diploma as their highest level of education, and 11.4 per cent had an apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma.