2011 NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS: Factsheet 4

Educational Attainment of Ontarians

This factsheet looks at data on education released by Statistics Canada as part of the 2011 National Household Survey¹.

Ontario: Highest Proportion of University-Educated Adults in Canada

• In 2011, almost a third (31.5%) of Ontarians aged 25 to 64 had a university degree, the highest proportion among the provinces and territories.
• In contrast, only 7.9% of Ontario’s adult population had a trades certificate as their highest level of educational attainment, which was the lowest in all of Canada.
• 25.2% of Ontario’s adult population had  a college diploma, 22.8% had a high school diploma as their highest level of attainment, while 8.0% had not completed high school.
• In 2011, nearly 7 out of 10 Ontarians aged between 25 and 64 had completed some form of postsecondary education, and 1 out of every 5 university graduates (bachelor’s degree and above) had a master’s degree as their highest degree.

Most Popular Fields of Study Differ for Men and Women

• 25.6% of women aged 25 to 64 with postsecondary qualifications (468,855) had business, management and public administration as a major field of study in 2011. In contrast, 36.6% of men under the same qualifications and age group (666,455) had architecture, engineering and related technologies as a major field of study.

Fewer Young Adults Studying in Trades

• Young adults (aged 25 to 34) are obtaining more education than older generations. In 2011, only 5.5% of young adults had not completed high school, while 11.9% of 55 to 64 year old population had not completed high school.
• Young adults are also obtaining a different kind of education than older generations. In 2011, fewer young adults were studying in trades than their parents. About  5.9% of adults aged 25 to 34 had a trades certification in 2011, compared with 10.1% of 55 to 64 year old adults.
• In 2011, younger adults were much more likely to be university educated than older adults (37.4% of young adults had a university degree compared to 25.5% of older adults).
• Proportions of college-educated adults were mostly similar between different age cohorts, with the exception of older adults who had a slightly smaller share of those with a college diploma.

Educational Attainment in Ontario’s CMAs

• In 2011, census metropolitan areas (CMAs) accounted for just over 90% of Ontario’s adult population with a university degree.
• In 3 out of 15 CMAs, the proportion of adults aged 25 to 64 with a university degree surpassed the provincial average of 31.5%.
• The proportion of the adult population with a college diploma exceeded the provincial average in 12 CMAs.
• Likewise, the proportion of the adult population with a trades certificate exceeded the provincial average in 12 CMAs.

Proportions of Adults with a University Degree

• The proportion of adults aged 25 to 64 with a university degree increased from 26.0% in the 2006 Census to 31.5% in the 2011 National Household Survey.
• In Ottawa-Gatineau (Ontario part), 44.3% of the population aged 25 to 64 had a university degree, the highest proportion in all of Ontario.
• Toronto had the second highest proportion where 39.6% of its adult population had a university degree. This was followed by Guelph at 33.5%.
• In Brantford,16.3% of the adult population had a university degree, the lowest proportion in all the CMAs.

Proportion of Adults with a Trades Certificate

• 11.8% of the adult population aged 25 to 64 of Thunder Bay CMA had a trades certificate in 2011, the largest proportion of all the CMAs in Ontario, followed by 11.3% in Greater Sudbury.
• In Ottawa-Gatineau (Ontario part), 5.6% of the adult population had a trades certificate, the lowest proportion among the CMAs.
• The proportion of adults aged 25 to 64 with a trades certificate decreased from 8.8% in 2006 to 7.9% in 2011.

Proportion of Adults with a College Diploma

• Oshawa CMA had the highest proportion of its adult population with a college diploma (32.6%) in 2011, followed by Peterborough (31.4%) and Barrie (31.0%).
• Toronto (20.9%), Guelph (23.5%) and Ottawa-Gatineau (23.5%) had the lowest proportions of their adult population with a  college diploma.

¹Comparability between the 2006 Census and the 2011 NHS estimates: When comparing estimates over time, two key differences should be considered: 1. The NHS is a voluntary survey and may be subject to potentially higher non-response error than the 2006 Census. 2. The two sources represent different populations ̶ the 2006 Census includes residents in collective dwellings and persons living abroad, while the NHS excludes these groups.

Office of Economic Policy
Labour and Demographic Analysis Branch