Edmonton Hosts Strength in Numbers Conference
« View All ArticlesMarch 13, 2008
Edmonton, Alberta
About 300 people attended Statistics Canada’s Strength in Numbers one-day conference in Edmonton, Alberta on March 13 to hear what the experts had to say about the latest Aboriginal data.
The data, which was collected through the 2006 Census, looked at the Aboriginal population in Alberta — presented by Dr. Doug Norris, Senior Vice-President and Chief Demographer, Environics Analytics; Aboriginal children and youth in Alberta — presented by Nancy Zukewich, Manager of Aboriginal Analysis, Statistics Canada; Aboriginal labour force in Alberta — presented by Dr. Ali Abdelrahman, Chief Economist Socioeconomic Statistics, Employment, Immigration and Industry, Government of Alberta; Aboriginal populations in Canadian cities — presented by Eric Guimond, Senior Research Manager, Strategic Research and Analysis Division, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC); and Registered Indian demography — presented by Jeanette Steffler, Research Manager, Strategic Research and Analysis Division, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.
The conference began with a welcome and invocation by Jerry Potts, Aboriginal Communications Manager, Statistics Canada.
Potts, a member of the Piikani First Nation, spoke about the growing Aboriginal population — Alberta having the third largest in the country — and the fact that half of that population is under the age of 25.
“It’s big, it’s growing and it’s on the move,” Potts commented.
The conference’s first speaker was Dr. Doug Norris. Norris presented an overview of the first results of the 2006 Census with a focus on Alberta.
Some interesting points from Dr. Norris’ presentation include:
• While the total Aboriginal population claiming ancestry is at 1,678,235 and climbing rapidly, the population reporting Aboriginal identity surpassed the 1 million mark in 2006.
• The Aboriginal population broken down by groups in Canada looks like this:
• North American Indian — 698,025
• Métis — 389,780
• Inuit — 50,480
• Other — 34,500
• While the total Aboriginal identity population grew by 20 per cent between 2001-2006 in Canada, broken down into groups, the growth looks like this:
• Métis — 33 per cent
• North American Indian — 15 per cent
• Inuit — 12 per cent
• Non-Aboriginal — 5 per cent
• Ontario has the highest number of Aboriginals at 242,495, followed by B.C. with 196,075 and Alberta sits third with 188,365.
• The areas with the highest concentration of Aboriginals are Nunavut at 85 per cent, Northwest Territories at 50 per cent and Yukon Territory at 25 per cent. Six per cent of Alberta’s population is Aboriginal.
• Fifty-four per cent of the Aboriginal identity population in Canada live in urban areas.
• In Alberta, the 2006 Census shows that the Aboriginal identity population is close to 190,000. That’s a 20 per cent growth between 2001 and 2006.
• The Aboriginal population in Alberta is much younger than the non-Aboriginal population.
Dr. Norris also spoke about languages. He said that the older population is most likely to have an Aboriginal mother tongue but some are learning a language.
He added that it’s often the case that the mother tongue is not the most common language spoken at home.
The next presenter of interest was Nancy Zukewich who spoke about Aboriginal Children and youth in Alberta. Zukewich looked at how the young Aboriginal population in Alberta is faring from a socio-economic perspective.
She said that younger children are more likely to have attended preschool programs specifically designed for Aboriginal children. Programs like Head Start.
Zukewich also said that First Nations children living on selected reserves are more likely to have attended a preschool program specifically designed for Aboriginal children. The problem arises when they become teenagers.
“Somehow the kids between the ages of 15 to 19 who are in school, for some reason, aren’t finishing,” she said, adding that studies have shown that the reasons are boredom, work or children.
Zukewich said a greater share of Aboriginal peoples do not have a high school diploma and are less likely to have postsecondary credentials.
Because of this, there’s a considerable gap between the employment rates of First Nations and non-Aboriginal peoples.
“Education matters if you’re looking to close the gap between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals in the workforce,” Zukewich said.
The final presenter of note was Eric Guimond. Guimond spoke about Aboriginal populations in Canadian cities. He looked at what’s behind their spectacular growth.
“Urban Aboriginal populations have been growing extremely fast over the last two decades,” he said. “Many observers have attributed this spectacular growth to migration from Indian reserves towards urban centres. But research has repeatedly shown that the idea of a mass exodus of Aboriginal populations from Indian reserves to Canadian cities is in fact a myth.”
Guimond said that ethnic mobility among the Métis population is the primary component of the urban Aboriginal population explosion between 1996 and 2006.
He said the misinterpretation of the trends could result in an over-emphasis on migration from Indian reserves to cities, and a policy-shift away from First Nations and Inuit communities.
In short, the Aboriginal population is booming and the majority are young (50% under 25). They aren’t finishing school but they ARE interested in learning about their cultures and languages. Contrary to popular belief, Aboriginal people are moving away from the cities and back to the reserves where they want to build strong healthy communities.