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Aboriginal People in Manitoba 2000

Population

• There were 128,910 Aboriginal people in Manitoba in 1996, or 11.7% of the population. This proportion is much higher than other provinces except Saskatchewan (11.4%).

Status Indians

• The 1996 Census counted 81,715 Status Indians in Manitoba. Of these, 58% lived on reserve, 27% in Winnipeg, and 15% elsewhere, mostly in the smaller urban centres. In northern Manitoba, 83% of Status Indians live on reserve, where Cree is almost as likely as English to be spoken in the home.

Metis

• The 1996 Census counted 41,005 Metis-identity people in Manitoba, not counting Status Indians who indicated Metis identity. 52% lived in Winnipeg, 15% in eight other urban centres, and 33% in smaller communities. English is the language most commonly spoken in 94%of Metis homes.

Inuit & Non-Status Indians

• 4.6% of the Aboriginal population cannot be classified as either Metis or Status Indian. Most are Non-Status Indians. The Census counted only 245 Inuit people in Manitoba.

Population Trends

• Between 1991 and 1996, there was a 1.9% net out-migration of Aboriginal people from Winnipeg. This reversed in-migration trends from 1950 to 1990. Reserves experienced a net in-migration, while off reserve areas outside Winnipeg lost people both to Winnipeg and to reserves.

Age Distribution

• The Aboriginal population is very young, because its birth rate is twice that of the non-Aboriginal population. As a result, about one fifth of Manitoba’s children aged 0-14 are Aboriginal. Birth rates are especially high among Status Indians, both on and off reserve.

Teen Births

• Teen births occur among Status people at three times the average rate,and 20% of First Nations births are to single mothers under 20 years of age.

Life Expectancy

• Nationally, life expectancy of Aboriginal people lags behind the general population by 8 years for men and 7 years for women. The difference is smaller for urban Aboriginal people, and greater on reserve.

Mortality Rates

• Status Indian neonatal (age 0-28 days) death rates have declined, and no longer exceed the Canadian average. Status post-neonatal (age 29 days to one year) death rates remain three times higher. For children age 1-4 they are four times higher. For children aged 5-14 they are two and a half times higher,and for young adults aged 15-39 they are three times higher.

Injury & Poisoning

• Among Status Indians aged one to 45 years, injury and poisoning are the leading causes of death. Within this category, the leading causes are motor vehicle accidents and suicide. Drowning and homicide are particularly common in Manitoba.

Suicide

• While injury and poisoning deaths have fallen since 1980, suicide rates have remained constant. Among Status youth aged 15-24, suicide rates are five times the national average for males and seven times for females.

Diabetes

• Diabetes rates among Status Indians have increased considerably during the 1990s. There were 3,700 confirmed cases in 1994. This number is projected to increase to 15,000 by 2015 and 20,000 by 2025, due to earlier onset and an aging population. Over this same period the cost of treating diabetes and its complications, already 18% of the provincial health budget, is projected to increase by 130% for the general population and 330% for the Status population.

Heart Disease

• Co-morbidity between diabetes and high blood pressure leads to sharply increased risk of heart disease. As a result, the increased prevalence of diabetes among Status Indians has resulted in an approximate doubling of hospital admissions for heart disease from 1985 to 1996.

Hospitalization Rates

• Age-standardized hospitalization rates for Status Indians are much higher than for the general population, due to increased risk of injury, higher rates of certain diseases, and restricted availability of out-patient services in isolated communities.

Disabilities

• Age-standardized Aboriginal disability rates are between 1½ and 2 times higher than the total population. Metis disability rates among ages 15-64 are slightly higher than among Status Indians. Impairments of sight, hearing and speech are more common among Aboriginal people than non-Aboriginal people. The number of disabled Aboriginal people will increase due to an aging population and the effects of diabetes.

Children In Care

• Status and Non-Status Indian children are in care of child and family service (CFS) agencies in highly disproportionate numbers, and these numbers are growing. In 1997, over 70% of Manitoba children in care were Aboriginal. From 1988 to 1998, the Aboriginal case-load of Winnipeg CFS tripled, while the non-Aboriginal case load declined. The proportion of Status children under care of First Nations CFS agencies declined in the 1990s.

Functional Literacy

• Aboriginal youth are becoming more likely to complete Grade 9, but so are non-Aboriginal youth. Of Status youth aged 15-29, 22% on reserve and 10% off reserve have not completed Grade 9, compared to just 2%of non-Aboriginal youth and 5% of Metis youth. Failure to complete Grade 9, an indicator of basic functional literacy, continues to be associated with geographic isolation.

High School Completion

• Aboriginal high school completion rates improved during the 1990s but are still much lower than the total population. Graduation rates vary among Aboriginal groups, from a high of 57% of Metis aged 30-39 to a low of 15% for Status people on reserve aged 50+. Even among Metis,age-standardized graduation rates are 20% lower than for the non-Aboriginal population. Among Status Indians, especially on reserve, the gap is greater.

Adult Education

• Aboriginal people over 25 are more likely to continue their education than non-Aboriginal people are. By 1996, about half of Aboriginal adults aged 30-49 had completed high school, and most of these had proceeded to some post-secondary education. In occupational prospects, there is a wide gulf between this group and the similar sized group of Aboriginal adults who have not completed high school.

University

• Aboriginal people are far less likely to attend or complete university. Manitoba's university graduation rate of 3% is typical among provinces, but less than Saskatchewan's 7%. Most Aboriginal university graduates are women. Metis people, though more likely to complete high school than Status Indians, are less likely to attend university, apparently because they are ineligible for federally funded post-secondary programs.

Other Post-Secondary

• Most Aboriginal people pursuing post -secondary education attend community colleges or training projects. In 1996, 24% of Metis aged 40-49 had completed some sort of non-university post-secondary education, as had 19% of Status Indians aged 40-49.

Focus on Youth

• Manitoba has the lowest rate of school attendance among Aboriginal youth of any province or territory in Canada, by a considerable margin. In 1996, only 44% of Manitoba Aboriginal youth were attending school either full or part time. Manitoba also has the greatest gap between Aboriginal/non-Aboriginal youth school attendance rates of any province except Quebec. This suggests that the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal conditions will continue to widen in Manitoba, relative to the rest of the country.

Youth Employment

• Manitoba's 1996 Aboriginal youth unemployment rate of 35.5% was close to the national average of 34.4%. An Aboriginal youth in Manitoba is 3.5 times more likely to be unemployed as a non-Aboriginal youth. The employment gap diminishes at higher levels of education.

Not at School or Employed

• In 1996, 27% of Manitoba Aboriginal youth neither attended school nor participated in the labour market. Adding the unemployed, 38% of youth were neither attending school nor employed. These numbers are higher than in any other province.

Young Offenders

• Over 70% of all admissions to youth correctional facilities in 1997/98 were Aboriginal. Aboriginal juveniles were 12 times as likely to be admitted to a facility if male and 22 times if female. Aboriginal youth aged 20 to 24 were 11 times as likely to be admitted to an adult correctional facility.

Street Gangs

• An estimated 37 street gangs actively recruited during the 1990's. By 2000, there were 1,896 gang member listed, plus 1,239 inactive members having no police contact for two years. None of the gangs restrict member ship to Aboriginal youth; however Aboriginal youth are heavily represented in some of the street gangs.

The Justice System

• Crime rates appear to be higher among Aboriginal communities – as much as twice as high. Aboriginal people in Manitoba are currently more than 10 times as likely to be incarcerated. The Aboriginal Justice Inquiry, which reported in 1991, linked this to “systemic discrimination” at every stage of the criminal justice process. The Inquiry presented a great deal of research data and analysis in support of this view.

Incarceration Rates

• The Aboriginal proportion of the prison population in Manitoba has increased from 10% in 1950 to as high as 70% in 2000. The female Aboriginal proportion is even higher. A majority of female inmates have been the victims of sexual or physical abuse.

Recent Trends

• Aboriginal over representation in prisons has worsened in the 1990s, even though crime rates have declined and new sentencing options have reduced general incarceration rates. The provincial and federal governments are collaborating in exploring “restorative justice ” programs aimed at developing alternatives to incarceration based upon traditional First Nations and Metis justice practices.

Labour Market Statistics

• Manitoba's Aboriginal labour market participation rate in 1996 was 54%, showing no improvement since 1981. The unemployment rate was 25%, slightly worse than 1981 (a recession year)and 31/4 times that of the non-Aboriginal labour force. The number of jobs available to Aboriginal people in these 15 years has just kept up with the rapid increase in the Aboriginal working age population.

Employment & Education

• Aboriginal unemployment rates are higher at every level of education. However, Aboriginal people with post-secondary education are more likely than non-Aboriginal people to participate in the labour market, narrowing the gap in employment rates.

Labour Market Analysis

• There are differences in labour market characteristics between Metis and Status people, as well as between Status people inside and outside Winnipeg, on and off reserve. Analysing these groups individually, rather than under the general rubric of “Aboriginal people, ”reveals that a lot of the things commonly believed about the Aboriginal labour market are simply false.

Metis Labour Market

• In 1996 Metis adults and youth participated in the labour market at rates similar to the non-Aboriginal population, but had unemployment rates about three times as high. Across the province, the Metis participation rate was 68%, the unemployment rate 20%, and the employment rate 52%. Metis women have lower rates of unemployment than men do.

Status Labour Market

• Status Indian labour market participation rates in Winnipeg and on reserve are identical at 46%, considerably lower than either Metis or non-Aboriginal rates. 35% were unemployed in Winnipeg, and an average of 30% on reserve; therefore employment rates were only 30% to 32%. Two observations arise from this: one, these figures point to a “discouraged worker effect” in both settings; and two, Winnipeg's economy was unlikely to act as a magnet for job seekers from reserves in the 1990's, explaining the lack of migration to Winnipeg.

On/Off Reserve Labour

• Participation and employment rates are higher off-reserve outside Winnipeg, but so are mobility rates. Each census, fewer Status people live in these areas, and those that remain are extremely transient. This, plus Winnipeg's recent poor economic showing for Status people, means that traditional on/off reserve differences in Status labour market indicators are steadily shrinking, in Manitoba if not nationally.

Status Women & Work

• Status women on reserve have a much lower unemployment rate (22%) than men on reserve (36%) or Status women in Winnipeg (32%). Male and female employment rates on reserve are similar, which reflects traditionally female occupations that have devolved to First Nations administration during the 1980s and 1990s.

Self-Employment

• From 1981 to 1996, self-employment among Aboriginal Manitobans has increased much faster than the non-Aboriginal rate, especially among young people and Metis. Aboriginal businesses created one in four new jobs for Aboriginal people in this period.

Income

• Median annual incomes for Aboriginal people are far below average. As compared to the non-Aboriginal income of $18,258, Metis received a median income of $12,219. Status people received $9,714 off reserve outside Winnipeg, $8,850 in Winnipeg and $6,755 on reserve. The gap between male and female incomes is far less among Aboriginal people.

Source of Income

• Government transfers are the major source of annual income of 38% of Status Indian adults, 20% of Metis and 5% of non-Aboriginal adults. Employment is the major source of income of 36% Status, 57% Metis and 64% non-Aboriginal.

Social Assistance

• Social assistance rates are highest on southern reserves and among Status women in Winnipeg. In any month, 53% of reserve households receive social assistance. This rate has remained constant for many years in Manitoba while rising steeply in other provinces, especially Alberta.

Income Adequacy

• The most commonly used indicators are Statistics Canada's “Low Income Cut-offs (LICO),” which vary according to household size and community population. Outside reserves, 66% of Status, 41% of Metis and 18% of non-Aboriginal households in Manitoba have incomes less than the LICO. Aboriginal low-income rates are considerably higher in Manitoba and Saskatchewan than other provinces.

Winnipeg Incomes

• In Winnipeg, a much larger proportion of Metis and Status Indian households fall below the LICO, as compared to off reserve outside Winnipeg. In Winnipeg, 51% of Metis fall below the LICO, as do 75% of Status Indians, indicating lower average standards of living in Winnipeg. Though the LICO is not applicable on reserve, Census data do not demonstrate any significant difference in standard of living between Status Indians living in Winnipeg and on reserve.

Income and Family Type

• 57% of Status Indian couples with children fall below the LICO, and 66% in Winnipeg. For Metis the numbers are much lower due to greater labour market participation: 30% and 38%. Among lone parent families, 89% of Status Indians and 82% of Metis fall below the LICO.

Focus on Winnipeg

• 45,750 Aboriginal people resided in Winnipeg in 1996, far more than any other Canadian city. Winnipeg's Aboriginal population is evenly split between Status Indians and Metis.

Winnipeg's Inner City

• Aboriginal people are located throughout Winnipeg, but are concentrated in the inner North and West Ends of the city. Here, they account for over 20% of the population of 14 different Census tracts, a concentration not found elsewhere in Canada. Aboriginal single parents and unattached individuals are particularly concentrated in the inner city. 85% of Aboriginal inner city households fall below the LICO. Street gangs and arson were emerging issues during the 1990's.

Winnipeg's Outer City

• In some neighbourhoods outside the inner city Aboriginal people approach city averages in terms of education and income, but less so in terms of unemployment rates and residential stability. Depending on the neighbourhood, two-parent families are two to three times as common as in the inner city.

Winnipeg Single Parents

• 61% of First Nations families and 41% of Metis families in Winnipeg are led by a single parent. Low incomes, high shelter costs, and frequent residential moves are issues for these families. Aboriginal single parents reside in Winnipeg in highly disproportionate numbers — a First Nations family is four times as likely to be led by a single parent in Winnipeg as compared to on reserve.

Home Ownership

• Province-wide, 50% of Metis live in owner occupied housing, but only 14% of Status Indians. On reserve 84% live in Band housing, accounting for nearly half the province's Status population. In Winnipeg, 83% of Status Indians and 63% of Metis are renters. The distribution of lower-cost rental units in Winnipeg determines the distribution of most of its Aboriginal population.

Shelter Costs

• 43% of Metis and 52% of Status renters pay more than 30% of their income on shelter. These figures are higher in Winnipeg, and lower in northern Manitoba.

Housing Condition

• According to Census data, 33% of Aboriginal families live in housing needing minor repairs, and 27% major repairs. Average housing condition is best in Winnipeg, and worst on reserve, where 41% (both north and south) indicate a need for major repairs.

Crowding

• Crowding is partly a factor of family size, partly of housing cost and supply. 41% of Status people, 22% of Metis and 14% of non-Aboriginal people live in housing with one or more persons per bedroom, which may or may not indicate overcrowding. 10% of Aboriginal people live in housing with two or more, which does. Crowding is worst in the north, where 15% of Status Indians on reserve and 17% off reserve have two or more people per bedroom.

Housing on Reserve

• Nationally, the number of housing units on reserve increased by 25% between 1990 and 1995, about twice the actual population increase. 30 years of “catch-up ”construction on reserve have increased the supply to the extent that crowding is only slightly more in evidence among Status people on reserve than off. However, housing condition and suitability remain serious concerns.

Migration

• Higher numbers of Status and Metis people indicated on the 1996 Census a different address one or five years ago. But omitting those who merely changed residences within the same municipality, there is little overall difference in Aboriginal versus non-Aboriginal migration rates (16% vs. 13% over five years). Status Indians on northern reserves and Metis in Winnipeg (9%)are less migratory than the provincial average, while Status Indians in Winnipeg (21%) and off reserve outside Winnipeg (37%) are more migratory.

Migrant Characteristics

• Aboriginal migrants are found in disproportionate numbers off reserve outside Winnipeg, and in less than average numbers in Winnipeg and on reserve. As a group, the migrants are young: 59% of migrant Aboriginal adults are aged 15-29 compared to 42% of all Aboriginal adults. Their educational levels are higher than average, but labour market participation rates are below average and unemployment rates well above average. Incomes are extremely low, and social assistance needs high.

Migrants Living in Winnipeg

• Among Status Indian migrants to Winnipeg, the employment rate is only 21%, the unemployment rate 49%. By contrast, Metis migrants to Winnipeg are less likely to be unemployed than non-migrants.

Local Residential Moves

• Most of the apparently high mobility rate of Aboriginal people consists of residential moves within the same municipality. This pertains particularly to Winnipeg, where of 37,405 Aboriginal people aged 5+ in 1996, only 10,385 lived at the same address five years earlier. 30% had moved in the past year alone. This is linked to the low rate of home ownership. Annual moving rates in some inner city districts exceed 70%.