Employment and Education among Aboriginal Peoples

The troubling economic outcomes faced by many of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples are well documented. The most recent release of the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) revealed that the gaps in labour market outcomes between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities continue to persist. Worse still, the progress made since 1996 in closing those gaps has stagnated from the 2006 Census (Table 1). The data indicate that the gaps across Aboriginal peoples and non-Aboriginal peoples for employment and unemployment rates are little changed from 2006-11. The income data from the NHS also suggest that the earnings gap between the two groups remains persistent. Improving educational outcomes within Aboriginal communities is a critical tool in addressing these disparities. Indeed, the data show that higher levels of Aboriginal educational attainment do translate into higher income levels and better labour market outcomes (Charts 1 and 2). However, there are two major issues related to PSE attainment among Aboriginal peoples. First, the proportion of this demographic that has PSE is still dishearteningly low; progress on closing the gap has indeed been slow. Second, those with PSE are heavily overrepresented in industries EMPLOYMENT AND EDUCATION AMONG ABORIGINAL PEOPLES October 7, 2013