Postsecondary enrolment rates by parental income - National and sub-national trends from 2001 to 2022

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Fahsai

Update to Frenette (2017) examining how postsecondary enrolment rates for 19-year-olds vary by after-tax parental income from 2001 to 2022, using tuition credits in tax data from the T1 Family File. Results are presented nationally, for each province and territory, and when possible by parental-income quintiles in 2022 constant dollars. National enrolment rose through the 2000s and 2010s, then declined moderately after 2019, with larger gains for youth from lower-income quintiles.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Overview

Data and methodology

National trends

Provincial and territorial patterns

COVID-19 period change

Catalogue no. 36-28-0001 ISSN 2563-8955 Economic and Social Reports Postsecondary enrolment rates by parental income: National and sub-national trends from 2001 to 2022 by Marc Frenette Release date: April 23, 2025 How to obtain more information For information about this product or the wide range of services and data available from Statistics Canada, visit our website, [www.statcan.gc.ca](www.statcan.gc.ca). You can also contact us by Email at infostats@statcan.gc.ca Telephone, from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. , at the following numbers: • Statistical Information Service 1-800-263-1136 • National telecommunications device for the hearing impaired 1-800-363-7629 • Fax line 1-514-283-9350 Standards of service to the public Statistics Canada is committed to serving its clients in a prompt, reliable and courteous manner. To this end, Statistics Canada has developed standards of service that its employees observe. To obtain a copy of these service standards, please contact Statistics Canada toll-free at 1-800-263-1136. The service standards are also published on [www.statcan.gc.ca](www.statcan.gc.ca) under“Contact us” > “Standards of service to the public.” Note of appreciation Canada owes the success of its statistical system to along-standing partnership between Statistics Canada, the citizens of Canada, its businesses, governments and other institutions. Accurate and timely statistical information could not be produced without their continued co-operation and goodwill. Published by authority of the Minister responsible for Statistics Canada © His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Industry, 2025 Use of this publication is governed by the Statistics Canada Open Licence Agreement. An HTML version is also available. Cette publication est aussi disponible en français. Postsecondary enrolment rates by parental income: National and sub-national trends from 2001 to 2022 by Marc Frenette DOI: [https://doi.org/10.25318/36280001202500400002-eng](https://doi.org/10.25318/36280001202500400002-eng) Obtaining a postsecondary education is an important factor in long-term labour market success (Frenette 2019) and a key mechanism for achieving intergenerational income mobility (Simard-Duplain and StDenis 2020) . Previous research ending in 2014 documented substantial gaps in postsecondary enrolment rates between higher- and lower-income youth (Frenette 2017) . Although older research largely found non-financial factors to be direct influencers of these gaps (e.g. , parental background, such as education levels and expectations for their children, as well as academic factors such as high school grades and standardized test scores), some students reported financial constraints as the primary reason for not enrolling in postsecondary education (Frenette 2007) . Moreover, there is a robust system of student financial assistance (grants, loans and savings incentives) in Canada that is designed to help students in need pay for their postsecondary education. Therefore, continuing to track postsecondary enrolment trends by parental income is informative for policy development. The purpose of this short article is to update the results of Frenette (2017) with more recent data from 2001 to 2022. Specifically, the article uses the T1 Family File to track postsecondary enrolment rates at age 191 based on the presence of tuition credits in the tax data. Importantly, the trends are shown for all provinces and territories combined, as well as for each province and territory individually. When possible, results are also shown by quintile2 of after-tax parental income, adjusted for family size, expressed in 2022 constant dollars, and based on thresholds from the 2022 distribution of parental income.3 Frenette (2017) described the approach in more detail and validated the approach for identifying postsecondary enrolment. At the national level, the postsecondary enr

FAQs

What data source and identification method are used for parental income and enrolment?

The study uses the T1 Family File to track enrolment rates at age 19 based on tuition credits in tax data. Parental income and province/territory are identified using available parent matches at age 19 when possible, otherwise at age 18 and then 17.

How did postsecondary enrolment rates change nationally between 2001 and 2019?

At the national level, the enrolment rate increased gradually across income quintiles, rising from 46.7% in 2001 to 59.5% in 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Did the enrolment rate continue rising after 2019?

No. Since 2019, enrolment declined moderately—from 59.5% in 2019–2020 to 59.0% in 2021 and 58.3% in 2022.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Fahsai