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Back to school... by the numbers

2008

Across Canada, students of all ages are going back to school this fall.

Here are some facts on assorted topics related to education in Canada.

Back to the books

5.2 million — The total number of students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools in Canada in 2005/2006.

This was down nearly 1% from the previous school year and down 3% from 1999/2000.

Here are the public elementary and secondary school enrolment numbers for the 2005/2006 school year in the provinces and territories:

76,827 — The number of students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools in Newfoundland & Labrador, a significant decline from the previous school year and a decline of 18% since 1999/2000.

21,948 — The number of students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools in Prince Edward Island.

142,304 — The number of students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools in Nova Scotia.

114,820 — The number of students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools in New Brunswick.

1,216,293 — The number of students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools in Quebec.

2,118,544 — The number of students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools in Ontario.

182,371 — The number of students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools in Manitoba.

174,206 — The number of students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools in Saskatchewan.

551,740 — The number of students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools in Alberta, up 0.1% from the previous school year and up 1% from 1999/2000.

589,388 — The number of students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools in British Columbia.

5,459 — The number of students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools in Yukon, unchanged from the previous school year but down 9% from 1999/2000.

9,571 — The number of students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools in the Northwest Territories.

9,062 — The number of students enrolled in public elementary and secondary schools in Nunavut.

Sources: “Public school indicators”, The Daily, Monday, July 28, 2008; Summary Public School Indicators for the Provinces and Territories, 1999/2000 to 2005/2006.

The teaching profession

692,000 — The approximate number of teachers and professors in Canada as of June 2008. Of these, 33% were men and 67% were women. The majority were full-time (560,100, or 81%).

$30.03 — The average hourly salary earned by teachers and professors in Canada as of June 2008.

Source: CANSIM, table 282-0069 (Labour Force Survey).

The school bus

35,000 — The number of school buses in Canada in 2006. Please note that these buses are also used to transport employees (NAICS 2007 Classification 485410 School and Employee Bus Transportation).

Source: CANSIM, table 408-0010 (Canadian Passenger Bus and Urban Transit Industries).

Early learning

Girls and boys differed in important ways in their readiness to learn as they entered school at the age of five, with girls outperforming their male counterparts in several areas.

The child's sex was only one dimension on which children's readiness to learn varied. Two other key dimensions were the level of income of the child's family and the home environment.

In general, girls were more ready than boys to learn at age five. Girls scored higher than boys in communication skill, attention and self-control of behaviour, and were rated higher in independence in dressing. Boys were rated above girls on only one measure: curiosity.

Girls and boys entered school with equivalent abilities in several areas. They did not differ in receptive vocabulary, which is the vocabulary that is understood by the child when he or she hears the words spoken. Girls and boys were similar in work effort, cooperative play and independence in cleanliness as well.

The academic knowledge and skill that children bring to school may contribute to their early learning. The study assessed the children's knowledge of numbers and their ability to copy and use symbols, both of which are linked strongly to academic achievement.

Source: “Study: Readiness to learn at school among five-year-old children”, The Daily, Monday, November 27, 2006.

How much does it cost to educate a student in the public system?

$9,704 — The average cost of educating a student (in current dollars) in 2005/2006. This is up nearly 32% from 1999/2000, when the cost was $7,357 (again, in current dollars). In comparison, inflation went up 15.2% during the same time frame.

Among the provinces, the annual cost per student in 2005/2006 ranged from more than $10,000 in Manitoba and Alberta to $7,650 in Prince Edward Island.

In the territories, spending per student was about $18,500 in the Yukon and more than $13,500 in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Source: Summary Public School Indicators for the Provinces and Territories, 1999/2000 to 2005/2006.

Learning in a global economy

Among the best in the world — The rank of Canadian 15-year-old students when it comes to science, reading and mathematics.

In science, only students from Hong Kong (China) and Finland outperformed Canadian 15-year-olds among the 57 participating countries.

In both reading and mathematics, only Korea, Finland and Hong Kong (China) performed better than Canada. In mathematics alone, Chinese Taipei performed better than Canada.

The results of the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a collaborative effort among member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), suggest that the performance of Canadian 15-year-olds in reading is strong. However, young Canadians still need to improve at the rate of other leading countries if Canada wants to maintain its competitive edge.

Source: “Performance of Canada's youth in science, reading and mathematics”, The Daily, Wednesday, December 5, 2007.

University enrolment

Enrolment in Canadian universities hit a record high for the fifth consecutive year during academic year 2005/2006, in the wake of on-going growth in the number of foreign students and young Canadian adults.

1.01 million — The record total number of students enrolled in Canadian universities in 2005/2006, up 3% from 2004/2005. The gain, however, was the second slowest growth rate this decade.

Between 1998/1999 and 2005/2006, students aged 18 to 24 accounted for three-quarters of the growth in total enrolment, likely the result of the echo-boom generation (persons born between 1980 and 1995).

781,300 — The number of full-time students enrolled in Canadian universities in 2005/2006, a record.

58% — The percentage of undergraduates who were women in 2005/2006, a proportion that has remained steady since 2001.

803,500 — The total number of undergraduates in 2005/2006, up 2.1% from the previous academic year, and a 22% increase from 1995/1996.

80,200 — The record number of students from other countries enrolled in programs at Canadian universities in 2005/2006, up 6% from the previous year.

7.7% — The proportion of foreign students, nearly double the proportion a decade earlier. Half were from Asia, and China accounted for 46% of these Asian students.

Canadian universities also continued to register significant numbers of students from India, South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong, all of which increased in 2005/2006.

Source: “University enrolment”, The Daily, Thursday, February 7, 2008.

Tuition fees for undergrads

$4,524 — The average amount paid in tuition fees by Canadian full-time undergraduate students in the 2006/2007 academic year, up from $4,400 the year before.

In 1998/1999, they paid $3,064 on average, and in 1988/1989 they paid $1,185.

Source: “University tuition fees”, The Daily, Thursday, October 18, 2007.

Top of the class

1st — The rank of Canada among the top 10 OECD nations when it comes to the proportion of 25 to 64 year olds having a college diploma or university degree.

7th — The rank of Canada among the top 10 OECD nations when it comes to the proportion of 25 to 64 year olds holding only a university degree.

Well-educated immigrants

Nearly half of residents having a doctorate and 40% having a master’s degree were not born in Canada.

Recent immigrants had higher levels of attainment than both immigrants who arrived prior to 2001 and people who were born in Canada.

Source: Educational portrait of Canada (pdf) in the Media Room’s For media: Slide presentations highlighting major findings.

Where are they going?

Alberta was the prime beneficiary of interprovincial migration among highly educated adults.

Overall, Alberta had the biggest net inflow of postsecondary graduates while Ontario recorded the biggest net outflows.

Source: 2006 Census: Educational Portrait of Canada, 2006 Census: Findings.

Graduation rates

The lowest graduation rate occurred in Alberta, where slightly over two-thirds of youth graduated from high school in 2005/2006.

Graduation rates have remained relatively stable from 1999/2000 to 2005/2006 in all provinces and territories, exclusive of Ontario, Yukon and the Northwest Territories , which recorded lower rates. The highest graduation rates were in the Atlantic provinces and Saskatchewan.

77% — The proportion of young women who received a high school diploma in 2005/2006.

70% — The proportion of young men who received a high school diploma in 2005/2006.

The proportion of young men and women receiving a high school diploma has not changed since 1999/2000. In 2005/2006, graduation rates among young women were higher than average in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Quebec.

Source: Summary Public School Indicators for the Provinces and Territories, 1999/2000 to 2005/2006.

Spending on education

Expenditures on school supplies, textbooks, tuition fees, other courses and lessons and educational services were reported by 43% of all households in Canada in 2006. (There were an estimated 12.8 million households in Canada.)

5.5 million — The number of households reporting expenditures on education.

$800 — The median expenditure on education by households reporting expenditures on education.

$100 — The median expenditure by reporting households on school supplies for kindergarten, nursery, elementary, secondary and post-secondary use.

29% — The proportion of households reporting expenditures on school supplies.

$100 — The median expenditure by reporting households on textbooks for kindergarten, nursery, elementary and secondary use.

$500 — The median expenditure by reporting households on textbooks for post-secondary use.

21% — The proportion of households reporting expenditures on textbooks.

$200 — The median expenditure by reporting households on kindergarten, nursery, elementary and secondary school tuition fees.

$2,500 — The median expenditure by reporting households on postsecondary tuition fees.

26% — The proportion of households reporting expenditures on tuition fees.

Driver’s ed

Do you have a 16 year old son or daughter who is learning how to drive?

$408 — The average expenditure on driving lessons by 4% of households in Canada in 2006.

Source: CANSIM, table 203-0012 (Survey of Household Spending).

Back to school shopping

For some kids, “back to school” may mean it is time to get outfitted with an entire new wardrobe, or it may mean replacing clothes that they have outgrown or worn out during the summer months.

And let’s not forget all the new backpacks, books, notebooks, pencils, pens, and so on that the new school year requires.

Here are some selected figures for this period last year from the Quarterly Retail Commodity Survey. It’s a safe bet some of these purchases were made in preparation for the new school year.

Here are the total sales across Canada in the third quarter of 2007 for selected categories:

$245.4 million — The total value of sales of girls’ clothing and accessories.

$227.6 million — The total value of sales of boys’ clothing and accessories.

$125.7 million — The total value of sales of unisex clothing.

$935.1 million — The total value of sales of stationery, office supplies, cards, gift wrap and party supplies.

Although higher in the third quarter than in previous quarters, sales for these categories peak in the fourth quarter (October to December).

Source: CANSIM, table 080-0018 (Quarterly Retail Commodity Survey).

Reading doesn’t make you fat

Researchers have found an association between watching TV, using a computer and obesity in both male and female adults.

But a third sedentary activity—reading—was not associated with obesity for either sex.

Source: “Study: Sedentary behaviour and obesity”, The Daily, Wednesday, June 18, 2008.

Get outside and play!

Soccer — The most frequently reported sport for both boys and girls in 2005. Soccer replaced swimming, which was most frequent in 1992.

2 million — The estimated number of children aged 5 to 14 (51% of children in this age group) that regularly took part in organized sports in 2005. This proportion was down from 57% in 1992.

About half of these active children participated in more than one organized sport. Active children played on average about 2.6 times per week per sport during their sport's season.

Source: “Study: Organized sports participation among children”, The Daily, Tuesday, June 3, 2008.

55% — The proportion of boys who were actively involved in sport in 2005, down from 59% in 1998.

44% — The proportion of girls who were actively involved in sport in 2005, the same as in 1998.

Source: “Study: Participation in sports”, The Daily, Thursday, February 7, 2008.

Don’t bug me, I’m busy!

Despite the stereotypical image of nonchalant, lounging teenagers, a Statistics Canada study shows that many teens carry a heavier load than you may think.

In fact, according to the study “The busy lives of teens” found in Perspectives on Labour and Income, when compared with nine other OECD countries, Canadian teens ranked first in terms of average hours spent on unpaid and paid labour during the school week.

After school attendance, homework was the most time-consuming unpaid activity for teens, with 60% doing an average of 2 hours and 20 minutes every day.

9.2hours — The amount of time teens devoted to school work, homework, paid work and housework on school days in Canada in 2005.

3.5hours — The amount of time teens devoted to school work, homework, paid work and housework on weekends in Canada in 2005.

Source: “Study: The busy lives of teens”, The Daily, Wednesday, May 23, 2007.

Education matters!

Education Matters is a free online periodical that provides summary information on issues and gives access to education indicators and Canadian education analysis. It presents information, statistics and analysis in a non-technical, highly readable format for teachers, students, parents, education associations, researchers and policy makers. It is published every two months by Statistics Canada's Centre for Education Statistics.

Check out the 2008 version of the Special back-to-school issue of Education Matters - A fact book on education in Canada, available September 4, 2008 in The Daily.

For much more on education, see the 2007 version of the Special back-to-school issue - A fact book on education in Canada, as well as the publication Education Indicators in Canada: Report of the Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program.

Helpful hints

For more sources of data and analysis on education, be sure to consult Education, training and learning in Statistics by subject.

The census is also an important source for education data. See Education Reference Guide, 2006 Census as well as the 2006 Census module on education.

You can also search for available data in CANSIM by subject and CANSIM by survey. There is a fee for access to the full CANSIM database, but students can access selected data free of charge via E-STAT.

Journalists can access CANSIM for a nominal fee. For more information, see the page Detailed tables in CANSIM in the Media Room.

Are you a student looking for help with your school projects, or for information about Canada , its people and its economy? Are you an education professional looking for ideas for lesson plans? You can learn all about information and tools for teachers and students in Learning Resources.

The module Statistics: Power from Data! helps students and journalists alike learn more about data collection and analysis. It also explains statistical concepts.

For information on this page or more data, contact Media Relations.