Achieving educational success for Aboriginal Canadians

This op-ed will be published in a number of Aboriginal monthly newsletters in January 2010.

By Paul Davidson
President and CEO
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada

In the past 14 months, there have been 104,000 net new jobs for Canadians with university level education, and 410,000 fewer jobs for those without. This demonstrates the importance of developing Canadian human resource potential.

In the next decade, 400,000 Aboriginal Canadians will reach the age to enter the labour market. At the same time, Canada’s economy will need well educated young people to address the needs of an aging population and to increase our productivity.

As Canada begins to move out of recession, we need to set our sights on improving access to university for all Canadians and most especially for Aboriginal Canadians.

Canada’s Aboriginal population is growing at three times the national average, but their university attainment is just one third that of other Canadians. We need to close this gap.

A new report from the Canadian Council on Learning provides insight into the learning success of Aboriginal Canadians. Among other things, the report shows that Aboriginals are most successful at learning when their learning is linked to their own culture and is relevant to their own life experiences.

Increasingly universities across Canada are delivering educational programs that incorporate these elements. On Canada Day, I was in Iqaluit to attend the graduation ceremony for the first group of master’s students to earn their degree entirely in the North. The 21 Inuit women from across Nunavut had just graduated from the University of Prince Edward Island’s Master of Education in Leadership in Learning program. The curriculum they studied was specially designed to balance both western and Inuit knowledge of education and leadership. These students had gone from being teacher’s assistants to master’s degree holders and leaders in their communities.

This is just one example of the many successes universities, governments and Aboriginal communities are creating across the country. University of Winnipeg’s downtown Wii Chiiwaakanak Learning Centre provides educational opportunities and services to the local, and mostly Aboriginal, community. Student volunteers from the university assist neighbourhood children with homework after school and on Saturdays. Cape Breton University’s Toqwa’tu’kl Kjijitaqnn / Integrative Science concentration in the Bachelor of Science program integrates the study of modern western science with the Mi’kmaw conceptual view of Nature as reflected in their language and legends. The program leads to a four-year Bachelor of Science degree and a wide variety of potential careers in health, nature and science.

Universities, governments and most importantly Aboriginal communities have already shown that they can achieve concrete results. In the early sixties, only three Aboriginal students attended university in all of Canada. Today, it is estimated that some 25,000 to 30,000 attend university.

Despite these successes, Canada is far from where we need to be. After steady progress in the last decade, Aboriginal enrolment is not keeping pace with population growth and federal support has remained essentially static for a decade.

Looking ahead to an emerging labour shortage in Canada, a report released this past spring by the Centre for the Study of Living Standards estimated what would happen if in 2026 the educational and labour market outcomes of Aboriginal Canadians reached the same levels other Canadians had in 2001. The numbers were striking. Compared to the status quo, annual incomes for Aboriginal Canadians would be $36.5 billion higher in 2026. For all levels of government, this would represent an increase in total tax revenue of $3.5 billion in 2026 alone.

Universities want to do their part. Many institutions are working collaboratively with Aboriginal communities to increase access, retention and completion. Recently, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo addressed over 70 university presidents from across Canada at the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada’s fall membership meeting. He outlined ways universities can do more and issued a call-to-action. In the coming months, university presidents will meet with Aboriginal leaders to plan and implement joint new initiatives which will assist more Aboriginal youth in pursuing a university education.

Achieving more will require resources to provide specialized academic and support programs for Aboriginal Canadians. For the most part, these programs are not covered by provincial operating grants or federal contributions. Funds will have to be found to achieve success on the scale Canada needs. Universities will work hard to find the resources they can internally, but will seek additional resources from the private sector, charitable organizations and governments.

All Canadians stand to benefit if Aboriginal Canadians have improved access to a university education and the tools they need to complete their studies and transition into the work force. I hope all sectors of Canadian society will join with Aboriginal communities and universities as they strive to achieve more together.