School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Canada
Canada: School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes was 3.36 years in 2018. ▼ Falling
School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Canada, 1976–2018
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in years.
Analysis
Canada recorded 3.36 years for school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in 2018.
The figure is up 0.4% on the previous year and up 6.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Canada peaked at 4.88 years in 1992 and was at its lowest, 2.4 years, in 1976.
That places Canada 31st out of 183 countries with data for 2018, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 2.4 years | 2.4 years | 2.4 years | 1 |
| 1980s | 3.84 years | 3.53 years | 4.15 years | 2 |
| 1990s | 4.23 years | 2.93 years | 4.88 years | 9 |
| 2000s | 3.06 years | 2.92 years | 3.16 years | 5 |
| 2010s | 3.23 years | 3.06 years | 3.36 years | 9 |
Countries ranked near Canada
More education data for Canada
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 64.8% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 15.0% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 95.0% (2023)
- Primary education, teachers 141,045 (2000)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.34 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 95.1% (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Canada?
- School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes in Canada was 3.36 years in 2018, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes recorded in Canada?
- The highest recorded value was 4.88 years in 1992.
- What is the lowest school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes recorded in Canada?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.4 years in 1976.
- How does Canada rank for school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes?
- Canada ranks 31st out of 183 countries with data for 2018.
- Is school life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes rising or falling in Canada?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Canada data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of School life expectancy, tertiary, both sexes (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Number of years a person of school entrance age can expect to spend within the specified level of education. For a child of a certain age a, the school life expectancy is calculated as the sum of the age specific enrolment rates for the levels of education specified. The part of the enrolment that is not distributed by age is divided by the school-age population for the level of education they are enrolled in, and multiplied by the duration of that level of education. The result is then added to the sum of the age-specific enrolment rates. A relatively high SLE indicates greater probability for children to spend more years in education and higher overall retention within the education system. It must be noted that the expected number of years does not necessarily coincide with the expected number of grades of education completed, because of repetition. Since school life expectancy is an average based on participation in different levels of education, the expected number of years of schooling may be pulled down by the magnitude of children who never go to school. Those children who are in school may benefit from many more years of education than the average.