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Aboriginal People in Manitoba 2000 Chapter 4 : Education and Training

Of Aboriginal people who have completed high school, large numbers have pursued post-secondary education or training of some sort. For example, 23.5% of all Metis aged 40-49 had completed some sort of non-university training, as had 19.2% of all Status Indians aged 40-49. For both groups, by the age of 40 a large majority of high school graduates had some post-secondary training/education, of which more than half had completed a certificate or degree.

Only 7.7% of Aboriginal people aged 15+ have their high school certificate and no further post-secondary. There appear to be two entirely different typical educational trajectories or Aboriginal people – about half do not complete high school, and another group, almost as large, pursues post-secondary education/training. The large gulf between the two groups means that moving a person from the first to the second group may require a series of education and training “interventions.”

Aboriginal graduates who pursue post-secondary education are more likely to attend community colleges or other non-university education or training, relative to the non-Aboriginal population. While non-Aboriginal people are as likely to pursue university as non-university post-secondary (24.6% vs. 25.0%), Aboriginal people are twice as likely to pursue non-university post-secondary – 23.2% vs. 11.0% for the Metis, and 18.1% vs. 10.2% for First Nations.

Aboriginal attendance and completion rates for non-university post-secondary approach non-Aboriginal rates, especially among Metis and off-reserve Status Indians. Of adults aged 15+, 19.9% of non-Aboriginal people have completed, compared with 17% of Metis, 14.5% of off-reserve Status, and 10.5% of on-reserve Status. These patterns are consistent among age groups, suggesting little recent change in trends:

Note that a Status Indian on reserve aged 15-29 has about half the non-Aboriginal chance of completing non-university post-secondary, but at age 40-49 has 70% the chance. This is due to higher educational participation among older Aboriginal people. For the same reason, lower completion rates among Aboriginal youth aged 15-29 do not necessarily suggest a deteriorating trend. Many will complete their schooling later in life.

By contrast, far fewer Manitoba Aboriginal people attend university, and fewer still complete. Only 2.9% of Aboriginal people in Manitoba aged 15+ have completed a university degree, and only 1.8% on reserve, compared to 12.6% of the non-Aboriginal population. This represents about 1,100 Status Indian, 1,000 Metis, and 100 non-Status Indian university graduates in the province. According to 1996 Census figures, both the number and proportion of Aboriginal university graduates had declined since 1991, but this is due to the change in the definition of “Aboriginal.” ⁵

By contrast, 7% of Aboriginal people aged 25-34 in Saskatchewan have completed a university degree, the highest rate west of New Brunswick. This has been attributed to the “long term presence of Aboriginally-oriented institutions of higher learning in that province.”⁶ The Manitoba rate, 3%, is similar to rates in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and B.C.

The majority of Aboriginal university graduates are female. 3.7% of Aboriginal women aged 15+ have completed a university degree, compared to 2.1% of Aboriginal men. In Winnipeg, 4.9% of Aboriginal women have completed a degree, and a higher proportion of women aged 30-49. ⁷ Of all Aboriginal people aged 15+ in Winnipeg, 4.3% had completed a degree, but for ages 30-39 this rises to 5.3%, and for ages 40-49, 7.7%.

Non-Aboriginal people complete more years of education, and earlier, but more Aboriginal people continue their education later in life. Nationally, in the 25 to 34 age group, 12% of Aboriginal people were full-time students in 1996, compared to 6% of the non-Aboriginal population. For ages 35 to 44, the figures were 7% and 3% respectively. Nationally, 45% of Aboriginal students attending higher education are 25 years or older, compared to 14% of the general population.

Metis youth are more likely to complete a university degree by age 30 than are Status Indians (2.7% vs. 0.7%). However, Status Indians are more likely to attend or complete university during their lives than Metis – especially Status Indians residing off reserve. This is due to Band support for post-secondary education, funded through the federal Indian Affairs department, which is not available to Metis and non-Status Indians.⁸