Educational attainment rate, completed Master's … Master both in Canada
Canada: Educational attainment rate, completed Master's … Master both was 11.2% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Educational attainment rate, completed Master's or equivalent in Canada, 1990–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent in Canada is 11.2%, measured in 2023. That is the highest value across all 34 years on record.
The figure is up 2.6% on the previous year and up 34.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent in Canada peaked at 11.2% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 4.0%, in 1990.
That places Canada 36th out of 82 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Educational attainment rate, completed Master's … Master both in Canada, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 4.0% | — |
| 1991 | 4.1% | +1.3% |
| 1992 | 4.3% | +4.5% |
| 1993 | 4.6% | +6.9% |
| 1994 | 5.0% | +10.1% |
| 1995 | 4.9% | -3.5% |
| 1996 | 5.1% | +5.4% |
| 1997 | 5.3% | +2.7% |
| 1998 | 5.2% | -1.1% |
| 1999 | 5.6% | +7.8% |
| 2000 | 6.0% | +6.6% |
| 2001 | 6.0% | +0.9% |
| 2002 | 6.1% | +0.8% |
| 2003 | 6.3% | +3.7% |
| 2004 | 6.1% | -2.4% |
| 2005 | 6.7% | +8.4% |
| 2006 | 6.7% | +1.2% |
| 2007 | 6.9% | +2.4% |
| 2008 | 7.3% | +6.2% |
| 2009 | 7.3% | -0.1% |
| 2010 | 7.6% | +3.3% |
| 2011 | 7.8% | +3.2% |
| 2012 | 8.2% | +4.7% |
| 2013 | 8.4% | +2.3% |
| 2014 | 8.4% | -0.0% |
| 2015 | 8.6% | +3.2% |
| 2016 | 7.1% | -17.6% |
| 2017 | 9.2% | +29.0% |
| 2018 | 9.4% | +2.1% |
| 2019 | 9.9% | +5.3% |
| 2020 | 10.2% | +3.7% |
| 2021 | 8.4% | -17.3% |
| 2022 | 10.9% | +29.5% |
| 2023 | 11.2% | +2.6% |
Canada compared with similar countries
- Canada's 11.2% is below the median for high income countries, which is 13.7%, 82% of the median. (44 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Educational attainment rate, completed Master's … Master both in Canada changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | +29.5% | 8.4% | 10.9% |
| 2017 | +29.0% | 7.1% | 9.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 4.8% | 4.0% | 5.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 6.5% | 6.0% | 7.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 8.4% | 7.1% | 9.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 10.2% | 8.4% | 11.2% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Canada
More education data for Canada
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 95.11 (2023)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 95.01 (2023)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 133,275 (1996)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 0 (2011)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 291,075 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 273,465 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.70 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.43 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 1.83 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent in Canada?
- Educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent in Canada was 11.2% in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent recorded in Canada?
- The highest recorded value was 11.2% in 2023.
- What is the lowest educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent recorded in Canada?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.0% in 1990.
- How does Canada rank for educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent?
- Canada ranks 36th out of 82 countries with data for 2023.
- Is educational attainment rate, completed master's or equivalent rising or falling in Canada?
- Over the last ten years it is up 34.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Canada data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Educational attainment rate, completed Master's or equivalent education or higher, population 25+ years, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release