Commission on the Reform of Ontario's Public Services

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CHART 6.1 Share of Population with
Incomplete K–12 Education, 2006
Per Cent
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
51
47
28 27
10
Ages 25 to 34 Ages 35 to 44 Ages 45 and over
North American Indian/First Nations On-reserve North American Indian/First Nations Off-reserve Non-Aboriginal
Source: 2006 Census as reported in Canadian Policy Research Networks 2009.
Improving educational attainment is critical to improving social and economic outcomes for
First Nations peoples. A long-overdue investment in on-reserve education will help alleviate
the long-run costs of the economic exclusion of Ontario’s growing First Nations communities. 4
The Cost of the Status Quo
In 2009, the Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) published a report estimating the potential long-run returns of closing the
gap in educational attainment and labour-market performance between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians. The study looked at
the potential gains in overall economic activity as well as the potential benefit to governments’ balance sheets. The CSLS estimated that if
these gaps were fully eliminated, Canada could realize a cumulative increase in real economic output of $401 billion over the period from
2001 to 2026. Of this figure, $180 billion is attributed to the impact of improved educational outcomes alone. Further, CSLS estimated that
together, governments’ fiscal position could improve by $116 billion as a result of $77 billion less in excess expenditures due to the
Aboriginal population’s above-average use of government programs such as health care, social services and the justice system, and
$39 billion in increased tax revenue.
Source: “The Effect of Increasing Aboriginal Educational Attainment on the Labour Force, Output and the Fiscal Balance,” Centre for
the Study of Living Standards, 2009.
4 This general conclusion is reached in a multitude of studies, including the Centre for the Study of Living Standards, TD Economics and
Canadian Policy Research Networks.
12
59
39
26