File photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / tomwangFile photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / tomwang
London

Census Shows We're Getting More Educated

More people in London are taking their education to the post-secondary level.

The latest census data shows, that in 2016, nearly six in ten adult Londoners had either a university or college education. The 56.5% figure eclipses the national average of 54%. It is also an increase from the 2011 figure of 52.5%.

The data released by Statistics Canada on Wednesday has a focus that relates to Canadians' level of education, employment, and how they get to work. It shows more than half of Canada’s population has more than a high school diploma, and Canadians are working longer.

In London, about a quarter of people aged 25-64 list a high school diploma as the their highest educational qualification.

Nationally, the census also finds that young graduates in the the health, engineering, or computer science fields are most likely to find work in their field and have a higher rate of pay.

The overall employment rate in Canada fell from 62.6% to 60.2%. However, there are now more people working past the age of 65. In 2015, nearly 6% of seniors worked full time, while one in five worked at some point throughout the year. That’s the highest number since 1981 when this data was first tracked.

There are also fewer people aged 15-24 in the workforce. In 2006, 57.2% of young people were employed but in 2016 that number was 51.9%.

The industry that employs the most people is the health and social assistance field. Around 12.1% of all workers, or around 2-million people, work in the health industry.

The retail industry employs the second most number of workers while the manufacturing sector fell to the number three spot. It employed the most people in 2006. The manufacturing sector had 385,000 fewer people employed in 2016 compared to 2006.

-With files from Maureen Revait

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