52
Aboriginal Canadians who went to university and received a bachelor or professional
degree had an unemployment rate of 5.8 per cent. This educational group had the lowest gap
between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities, with the gap standing at 1.9 percentage
points. The impact of university completion on labour market success of Aboriginal individuals
was demonstrated even more clearly by the fact that the unemployment rate for all Aboriginal
Canadians was three times greater than the unemployment rate for those who attained a bachelor
or professional degree.
Table 6 illustrates the unemployment rate gap between the non-Aboriginal and
Aboriginal populations by educational attainment. Negative numbers indicate that
unemployment was higher for the Aboriginal community. In 2001, the gap was largest for those
with education extending only to grades 5 through 8 (at 15.0 percentage points) and lowest for
those who received a bachelor or professional degree (at 1.9 percentage points).19
ii. Change in the 1996-2001 Period
In general, unemployment rates fell down between 1996 and 2001. The overall
unemployment rate for Aboriginals fell from 24.4 per cent to 16.5 per cent, a substantial
reduction of eight percentage points. Non-Aboriginal Canadians also saw improvement over the
period, moving to 5.9 per cent in 2001 from 9.8 per cent in 1996, a four point drop (Appendix
Table 12 and 13). In absolute term, the Aboriginal unemployment rate fell twice as much as the
non-Aboriginal unemployment rate over the 1996-2001 period.
Table 6: Unemployment Rates by Educational Attainment, 1996 and 2001
|
Aboriginal |
Non- |
Difference between Non- (Percentage Points)_____ |
Change in the | ||
|
2001 |
2001 |
1996 |
2001 |
1996-2001 | |
|
Less than grade 5 |
21.8 |
9.6 |
-2.4 |
-12.2 |
-9.8 |
|
Grades 5 to 8 |
24.5 |
9.5 |
-19.3 |
-15.0 |
4.4 |
|
Grades 9 to 13 |
22.8 |
8.7 |
-16.2 |
-14.1 |
2.1 |
|
High School Graduation |
11.2 |
5.4 |
-9.1 |
-5.8 |
3.3 |
|
Trades Certificate or Diploma |
17.1 |
5.4 |
-13.6 |
-11.7 |
1.9 |
|
College: Without Trades or college Certificate |
17.3 |
7.1 |
-15.7 |
-10.2 |
5.5 |
|
College: With trades certificate or diploma |
14.7 |
5.2 |
-13.2 |
-9.5 |
3.7 |
|
College: With college certificate or diploma |
11.1 |
4.4 |
-10.1 |
-6.7 |
3.4 |
|
University: Without certificate, diploma or degree |
17.9 |
8.5 |
-13.6 |
-9.4 |
4.2 |
|
University: With university or college certificate |
11.6 |
5.1 |
-6.9 |
-6.5 |
0.5 |
|
University: With bachelor or first professional degree |
5.8 |
3.9 |
-2.5 |
-1.9 |
0.6 |
|
University: With certificate above bachelor's degree |
8.8 |
3.3 |
-7.6 |
-5.4 |
2.2 |
|
University: With master's degree(s) |
6.5 |
3.9 |
2.2 |
-2.7 |
-4.9 |
|
University: With earned doctorate*___________________ |
________0.0 |
3.2 |
-21.2 |
3.2 |
24.4 |
|
Less than High School Graduation |
23.1 |
8.9 |
-16.5 |
-14.2 |
2.3 |
|
High School Graduation and Higher_________________ |
_________13.3 |
5.2 |
-11.7 |
-8.1 |
3.6 |
|
Total__________________________________________________ |
_________16.5 |
5.9 |
-14.6 |
-10.6 |
4.0 |
Source: Census 1996 and 2001, Public Use Microdata Files
*The ample size for this category was very small
have trade certificates and persons who go to college or to university but do not finish have higher unemployment
rates than those for whose high school graduation is the highest level of educational attainment.
19 The lowest unemployment rate among Aboriginals was those holding doctorates; census information indicates
that the unemployment rate was 0 per cent. However, the sample size for this category is particularly small.