A profile of Indigenous journeypersons in Canada, 2010 to 2020
Press Release
Dec 05, 2024
From 2010 to 2020, Indigenous journeymen earned a higher median income compared with non-Indigenous journeymen, and Indigenous journeywomen earned nearly 2.5 times less, on average, than their male counterparts. Journeypersons are individuals who have completed an apprenticeship program, or trade qualifiers who have earned a certificate of qualification.
These trends come from an analysis of Indigenous people who certified as journeypersons over the 10-year period from 2010 to 2020, including the trades they chose and income trends, as well as the characteristics of completers and non-completers of apprenticeship programs.
Number of Indigenous journeymen being certified annually varied from 2010 to 2020
When examining trends from 2010 to 2020, the number of certifications increased for Indigenous journeymen from 2010 to 2013, peaking in 2013 at nearly 2,000 (Chart 1). This was followed by a decline to 1,460 in 2019, after some stability from 2015 to 2018. The largest year-over-year decline followed in 2020 (-500), coinciding with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. For Indigenous women, the number of certifications was comparatively stable, ranging from 210 to 360 over the 10-year period.
From 2010 to 2020, the trades most often chosen by Indigenous journeymen were electrician (15%), carpenter (10%) and welder (8%) (Chart 2), while the trades most often chosen by Indigenous journeywomen were hairstylist (40%) and cook (12%) (Chart 3).
Large gender gaps in income between journeymen and journeywomen
From 2010 to 2020, Indigenous journeymen earned, on average, nearly 2.5 times more inflation-adjusted median employment income ($74,980) than their female counterparts ($30,920). The gap in income between Indigenous journeywomen and journeymen did not narrow over the period. By comparison, non-Indigenous journeymen had a median income of $71,420, while their female counterparts earned $33,410.
A smaller share of completers than non-completers is in a one-parent family
Indigenous apprentices who did not achieve certification (non-completers) had a different family profile than those who achieved their certification within 1.5 times the program duration (completers). Examining the family profile of apprentices at the time of their registration may provide insight into the potential barriers to and facilitators of the successful completion of an apprenticeship program.
Among both Indigenous men and women, a larger share of completers were married or in common-law relationships, relative to non-completers. At the same time, a smaller share of completers was in a one-parent family at the time of registration, compared with non-completers. This was particularly the case among Indigenous women (15% of completers versus 29% of non-completers in a one-parent family).
Note to readers
This study was done in collaboration with the Native Women’s Association of Canada.
This study uses data from the Education and Labour Market Longitudinal Platform (ELMLP) database, which allows integration of various datasets, including data from the Postsecondary Student Information System, the Registered Apprenticeship Information System (RAIS), the 2016 Census of Population and the T1 Family File (T1FF). Specifically, this study used the ELMLP database that links three datasets: the RAIS, the 2016 Census and the T1FF.
The RAIS is an administrative dataset that contains information on all individuals who enrol or certify in a registered apprenticeship program. It provides information on certification year, trade categories and the types of certificates that journeypersons achieved, as well as whether apprenticeship training is compulsory or voluntary. It also compiles data on the number of provincial and interprovincial certificates granted to apprentices or trade qualifiers (challengers). The top trade categories are ordered based on occupational domain, more specifically according to the minor group (four-digit code) of the National Occupational Occupation.
The T1FF is derived from T1 income tax returns and built from income tax information and a federal child benefits file. Information on income is obtained from tax filers, for themselves and their non-filing spouses. The income used in this study is total employment income during the calendar year. Because there is no information on occupation, part or all of the employment income may have been earned in a job or jobs unrelated to the trade the journeyperson is certified in.
The linked dataset overcomes the limitation of the RAIS dataset, which lacks Indigenous identifiers for those who enroll and certify to become journeypersons. This includes Indigenous identity (First Nations, Métis and Inuit). Approximately 25% of journeypersons in the RAIS were linked to the census long-form questionnaire, which includes population group questions, and those records were linked and weighted in the analyses. Finally, the dataset is a longitudinal dataset; that is, it has year-over-year data for individuals including year of enrollment, certification, and tax data.
The current study population includes journeypersons who certified from 2010 to 2020. To get the sample in the RAIS database, first, all individuals who did not certify were excluded. Second, only journeypersons aged 15 to 64 years who certified from 2010 to 2020 were included. Third, for the journeypersons who received multiple certificates within this period for the same trade or different trades from a given jurisdiction, only the latest record was used.
For the examination of factors associated with completing certification, two cohorts of apprentices were generated. First, a group was created of individuals who registered from 2010 to 2020 but did not certify (non-completers). In the case of multiple records, the record with the earliest date of registration was kept. Second, a group of individuals who were registered from 2010 to 2020 and received a certificate within 1.5 times the program duration was created (completers). This process ensured that each identifier was unique by keeping the record with the earliest date of certification. Finally, individuals whose 1.5 times the duration of the program occurred after 2020 were excluded, because it could not be determined if the individual would be a completer or non-completer without allowing sufficient time. Furthermore, individuals registered in apprenticeship programs that were less than one year long were excluded.
Definitions
Journeypersons: journeypersons are individuals who have completed an apprenticeship program, or trade qualifiers who have earned a certificate of qualification.
Completers: refers to a cohort of registered apprentices from 2010 to 2020 who certified within 1.5 times the duration of their program.
Non-completers: refers to a cohort of registered apprentices between 2010 and 2020 who did not receive any certificate.
Registered apprentices: refers to the people who are in a supervised work training program in a designated trade within their provincial or territorial jurisdiction.
Trade qualifiers or trade challengers: refers to the people who have worked in a specific trade for an extended period of time without necessarily having been an apprentice and who have received certification from a jurisdiction, usually done via a skills assessment examination in the trade Canada.
Products
The publication “Indigenous journeypersons: Trends and socioeconomic characteristics, 2010 to 2020” is now available as part of the Indigenous Peoples Thematic Series (41200002).
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
IBF5
