School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Canada

Canada: School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes was 16.22 years in 2018. ▬ Flat

Latest (2018)
16.22 years
Change on year
up 0.4%
World rank
35th
of 183 countries
All-time high
17.26 years
in 1992
All-time low
13.75 years
in 1976
Years of data
25
1976–2018

School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Canada, 1976–2018

0510151976199720181976: 13.8 years1986: 15.7 years1989: 16.4 years1990: 16.8 years1991: 17.1 years1992: 17.3 years1993: 16.9 years1994: 17 years1995: 16.9 years1996: 17 years1998: 16.1 years1999: 16 years2000: 15.9 years2007: 15.2 years2008: 15.2 years2009: 15.2 years2010: 15.1 years2011: 15.2 years2012: 15.7 years2013: 15.7 years2014: 15.8 years2015: 15.9 years2016: 16 years2017: 16.2 years2018: 16.2 years

Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in years.

Analysis

Canada recorded 16.22 years for school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in 2018.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.4% on the previous year and up 6.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Canada peaked at 17.26 years in 1992 and was at its lowest, 13.75 years, in 1976.

That places Canada 35th out of 183 countries with data for 2018, putting it in the top quarter.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 13.75 years 13.75 years 13.75 years 1
1980s 16.05 years 15.72 years 16.38 years 2
1990s 16.77 years 15.97 years 17.26 years 9
2000s 15.37 years 15.18 years 15.88 years 4
2010s 15.76 years 15.12 years 16.22 years 9

Countries ranked near Canada

  1. 32 United States of America 16.28 years compare
  2. 33 Czechia 16.28 years compare
  3. 34 Latvia 16.23 years compare
  4. 36 Italy 16.18 years compare
  5. 37 Israel 16.13 years compare
  6. 38 Austria 16.07 years compare

See the full ranking of 228 places →

More education data for Canada

All data for Canada →

Frequently asked questions

What is school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Canada?
School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Canada was 16.22 years in 2018, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
What is the highest school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes recorded in Canada?
The highest recorded value was 17.26 years in 1992.
What is the lowest school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes recorded in Canada?
The lowest recorded value was 13.75 years in 1976.
How does Canada rank for school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes?
Canada ranks 35th out of 183 countries with data for 2018.
Is school life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes rising or falling in Canada?
Over the last ten years it is up 6.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
Where does this Canada data come from?
The figures come from Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published as part of School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Canada. Statizoid, drawing on Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Retrieved 21 August 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/school-life-expectancy-primary-to-tertiary-both-sexes-years/canada/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://education.statizoid.com/stat/school-life-expectancy-primary-to-tertiary-both-sexes-years/canada/">School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes in Canada</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, both sexes (years)
Unit
years
Source
Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
228 places, 7,038 data points, 1970–2019
Last refreshed

Expected years of schooling is the number of years a child of school entrance age is expected to spend at school, or university, including years spent on repetition. It is the sum of the age-specific enrolment ratios for primary, secondary, post-secondary non-tertiary and tertiary education.