--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-28/closing-the-aboriginal-education-gap-in-canada-the-impact-on-employment-gdp-and-labour-productivity/" title: "Closing the Aboriginal Education Gap in Canada: The Impact on Employment, GDP, and Labour Productivity" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-13T07:37:58+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-13T07:37:58+00:00" post_type: "ipm" summary: "" ipm_issue_period: - "Spring 2015" ipm_keyword: - "Aboriginal education" - "Canada" - "demographic projections" - "employment" - "GDP" - "human capital" - "National Household Survey" - "productivity" ipm_research_theme: - "Policy and institutions" ipm_country_focus: - "Canada" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/IPM_50_banner.webp" status: "publish" --- # Closing the Aboriginal Education Gap in Canada: The Impact on Employment, GDP, and Labour Productivity Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-28/closing-the-aboriginal-education-gap-in-canada-the-impact-on-employment-gdp-and-labour-productivity/ # Closing the Aboriginal Education Gap in Canada: The Impact on Employment, GDP, and Labour Productivity [Download full PDF article](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-28-2-Calver.pdf) Cite this article × Cite this article as: Calver, Matthew. 2015. “Closing the Aboriginal Education Gap in Canada: The Impact on Employment, GDP, and Labour Productivity.” International Productivity Monitor, No. 28 (Spring 2015): 27–46. https://www.csls.ca/ipm-archive/ipm-issue-28/closing-the-aboriginal-education-gap-in-canada-the-impact-on-employment-gdp-and-labour-productivity/ ## Author: - Matthew Calver Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) ## IPM Issue 28 Spring 2015 pp. 27–46 ## Related IPM articles [Is the SNA Still Useful? 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The Aboriginal educational attainment gap is often seen as the major source of these disparities. Using data from the 2011 National Household Survey, projections of Aboriginal population growth, and forecasts of aggregate economic conditions, we estimate the economic impact of closing the educational attainment gap by 2031. We find that the benefits of achieving such a feat could be very large, both for the Aboriginal population and for the country as a whole. Closing the education gap would raise Aboriginal employment by 90 thousand workers, GDP by $28.3 billion (2010 dollars) and Aboriginal employment income by $11,236 per worker in 2031. Labour productivity would increase by 0.03 percentage points per year over the 2011-2031 period. Assuming improvement occurs at a constant pace, we estimate that the cumulative gains to Canadian GDP would be as large as $261 billion (2010 dollars) over the 2011-2031 period. T HE E CO NOMI C AND SOCIAL outcomes of Malgré des améliorations entre 2001 et 2011, la population autochtone du Canada continue d’afficher des performances inférieures sur le marché du travail. L’écart de scolarité des Autochtones est souvent perçu comme la principale source de ces disparités. À l’aide de données de l’Enquête nationale auprès des ménages de 2011, de projections de la croissance de la population autochtone et de prévisions des conditions économiques globales, nous estimons l’impact économique de la fermeture de l’écart de scolarité d’ici 2031. Nous constatons que les avantages d’un tel accomplissement pourraient être très importants, tant pour la population autochtone que pour le pays dans son ensemble. La fermeture de l’écart de scolarité accroîtrait l’emploi des Autochtones de 90 000 travailleurs, le PIB de 28,3 milliards de dollars (en dollars de 2010) et le revenu d’emploi des Autochtones de 11 236 $ par travailleur en 2031. La productivité du travail augmenterait de 0,03 point de pourcentage par année sur la période 2011-2031. [Download full PDF](https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/IPM-Issue-28-2-Calver.pdf)