Off-reserve unemployment rates higher

The 2012 Alberta Official Statistics indicate that the gap in employment rates between non-Aboriginals and off-reserve Aboriginals has increased from a five percentage point difference in 2007 to a 9.8 percentage point difference in 2011. The Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey of 2011 also indicates that the proportion of employed non-Aboriginal Albertans with a university degree was comparatively higher at 23.3 per cent than for off-reserve Aboriginal people at 10.5 per cent. Other labour force statistics indicated that the proportion of employed off-reserve First Nations with a university degree was 10.7 per cent, which was higher than the proportion of employed off-reserve Métis at 9.9 per cent and that among employed off-reserve Aboriginal people, 42.8 per cent had post-secondary qualifications which includes a trade certificate, college diploma, or university degree. All other Aboriginal statistics included in the newly released 2012 Alberta Official Statistics come from the 2006 Statistics Canada Census.