Northern Ontario Youth less likely to pursue University

According to a paper published in the June issue of Rural Sociology, young people from remote northern regions of Canadian provinces are significantly less likely than those in southern urban areas to attend post-secondary school.

Examining Access to Post-secondary Education among Youth in Canada's Provincial North

Some social groups continue to face significant barriers and encounter difficulties making the transition. . Drawing on cycles 1 to 4 of Statistics Canada's Youth in Transition Survey (YITS−Cohort A), research reveals that individuals from the northernmost parts of Canadian provinces do experience difficulties accessing University.  Results suggest that much of these location effects are attributable to not only economic differences in terms of parental income but also cultural and dispositional differences related to parental education and their aspirations for their children's education.

Low income is a barrier to university education, and the parents of northern Ontario students earn less money on average than parents in southern urban Ontario regions.

Stats Canada Ontario and Northeast Economic region


Post-secondary institutions in northern Ontario are taking steps to attract students from within the region and beyond. Two northern colleges and three northern universities for this story; all have Indigenous outreach programs that seek out students in remote First Nations, and all offer distance- and online-education options, in part to provide access to those who can’t leave home. For additional article info:

TVO: Why so many students in the north aren’t going to college or university

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