Aboriginal peoples make up close to 4% of the Canadian population. They have significantly lower participation rates in the labour force than the average for all Canadians. In 1991, the average unemployment rate for aboriginal peoples was 19.4%, almost double that of the general population. Aboriginal peoples are on average much younger than the total population, with 57.7% under 25 years of age; hence, they are very concerned with transition into employment issues. Problems in this respect are amplified by high-school dropout rates among this group (over 18% have less than grade 9 education) and lower rates of university graduation than the general population (5.9% compared with 13.4 %).

According to the 1991 Health Activity Limitations Survey (Statistics Canada), people with disabilities constituted 7% of the population. People with disabilities are among the most disadvantaged economically in Canadian society. Although significant progress has been made in recent years, their rate of participation in the labour force remains much lower than that of the general population.

Labour force status and level of education

Figure 7 shows the status in the labour force of the working age population by age group. The 15 to 24 year old group is divided into full-time students (average of 8 months full-time participation in the education system over the period January to April and September to December 1992) and others. Some full-time students (35%) also hold a job, usually part time.

Despite the problem of a high-school dropout rate that is too high, the educational attainment of the Canadian labour force is rising rapidly as older workers, with a lower average level of formal education, retire and are replaced by younger generations who have spent more years in the education system (Figure 8). The proportion of the labour force with education beyond high school has risen from less than a third in 1975 to more than half in 1992.