Public Employment

THE EDUCATION WORKFORCE

For all of Canada, the education workforce grew strongly from 1981 to 2010 (+61 %). The highest increase in this component of public employment occurred in British Colombia (+76.8%) and the weakest increase in Nova Scotia (+41.7%).

 Education employees (expressed in 1000 persons), Provinces, Canada, 1981-2010* 

 

Year

NFL

PEI

NS

QC

ON

MB

SK

AL

BC

Can.

1981

14.0

2.6

23.9

171.6

243.7

28.7

26.7

70.3

70.6

655.7

1986

15.4

3.0

23.8

172.3

263.2

31.6

27.9

77.2

68.4

687.0

1991

15.7

3.7

26.2

195.0

318.0

33.4

30.0

82.5

93.5

802.3

1996

14.4

4.1

26.3

201.3

305.4

35.0

30.7

81.9

117.2

820.8

2001

17.1

3.9

35.3

237.9

320.2

38.1

35.1

95.3

116.3

905.3

2006

17.9

4.2

35.1

248.4

376.6

42.5

37.7

104.4

122.6

996.4

2007

18.0

4.3

33.6

252.4

387.8

42.8

38.5

109.2

125.6

1018.7

2008

19.1

4.3

34.4

256.4

396.7

44.3

38.9

113.1

125.7

1039.7

2009

20.4

4.6

33.8

260.9

400.8

45.9

41.7

115.0

124.8

1054.7 

2010

20.3

4.8

34.0

262.2

410.5

45.1 

41.3 

116.8

123.0

1064.9 
Source : Statistics Canada, E-STAT, Table 183-0002 (updated July 18, 2011).
N. B.: The data for New Brunswick are not presented in this table due to problems involved with calculating the number of school board employees -- as these employees are provincial public employees in this province.
*On May 29, 2009, Statistics Canada revised its 2001-2008 employment data for provincial education, health and social services, and local government contained in the Survey of Employment, Payroll and Hours (SEPH).

Interestingly, in these two provinces the variation is essentially due to the increase of the rate of employment growth in universities, between 1981 and 2010 (+138.4% in British Colombia and +83.5% in Nova Scotia). The gap between the rate of growth for the education component as a whole and that of the post-secondary and vocational education sub-component in both these provinces is due in particular by their respective demographic dynamics. Specifically, in Nova Scotia, the number of individuals aged 17 years and under (i.e., the age group of which a very high proportion currently receives or will soon receive educational services) declined by almost a third between 1981 and 2010 (-30.3% to be exact), that is the most significant decrease after Newfoundland and Labrador (-55.3%). At the same time, in British Columbia, the number of individuals aged 17 years and under rose by 14.5%.

Consequently, caution must be exercised when interpreting the ratio of the number of education sector employees to 1000 inhabitants. This ratio does not provide a direct indication of the capacity of provinces to provide educational services. Further, it must be relativized against the general demographic trends of each of the 10 provinces – i.e., trends that have an impact on the volume of clients to whom schools and other educational institutions must provide services.

Percentage Change between 1981 and 2010



Source: Statistics Canada, E-STAT, Tables 183-0002 (updated July 18, 2011) and 051-0001 (updated July 18, 2011).

Comparing the rate of change in the ratio of “Education employees per 1000 inhabitants” and the number of individuals aged 17 years and under between 1981 and 2010, it is possible to make the following distinctions:

  • there are two provinces, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, in which changes in the capacity to provide educational services (expressed by the ratio of the number of employees per 1000 inhabitants) is inversely proportional to changes in the size of the potential clientele of individuals aged 0 to 17;
  • in four provinces – Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island and Quebec – the rate of capacity increase was more than twice the rate of population decrease among the 0-17 age group;
  • in British Columbia and Ontario, the increase in service capacity is slightly lower than the increase in the number of individuals aged 17 and under were equivalent;
  • Alberta, where the increase in the capacity of schools to provide education is clearly outstripped by the increase in the number of 0-to-17-year-olds. Alberta’s situation stands out from the other Canadian provinces as the result of budget cuts in the province’s education sector in the 1990s, combined with significant demographic growth (+ 60.3% between 1981 and 2010).