Canadian Education Demographics: An Introduction

Quantitative Count of Total Students in Canadian Schools

According to data collected by Statistics Canada, in the 2018/2019 academic year, 7,831,116 Canadians were enrolled in either elementary, secondary, or post-secondary education programs within Canada.

Primary and Secondary Enrollment:

The numbers released by Statistics Canada in the 2018/2019 academic school year show that 5,212,908 students were enrolled in a primary and secondary education program. This includes public schools, private/independent schools, and home-schooled students.

In Canada, 91.8% of students attended public schools, 7.5% attended private/independent schools, and .7% were home-schooled.

Post-Secondary Enrollment:

In 2018/2019, 2,155,425 Canadians were enrolled in a post-secondary education program. Of that, 76.8% were full-time students.

Level of Education Attained per Population

According to Statistics Canada, between the ages of 25 to 64 in the year 2016:
- 11.5% of Canadians have no high school diploma.
- 23.7% of Canadians have at least a high school diploma.
- 10.8% of Canadians have a certificate of diploma in trades.
- 22.4% of Canadians have a college diploma.
- 28.5% of Canadians have a university diploma or degree at bachelor level of above.

Below is a graph from Statistics Canada that illustrates each province's highest level of education attained by residents.

Of the provinces listed, Ontario had the highest percentage of tertiary level (college or university) education at 63%.

Source: Statistics Canada.

Graduation Rates:

According to Statistics Canada, in 2016, 79% of Canadians graduated high school on time. The graph below illustrates the percentage of on-time graduation rates by province.
Of Canadians that graduated high school, the female graduation rate was 83% and the male graduation rate was 75%.
The province with the lowest graduation rate is Quebec, and the province with the highest graduation rate is New Brunswick.