The average hourly wage for a young man in Canada’s oil-producing provinces rose 21 per cent from 2001 to 2008, more than five times the increase than in other provinces, Statistics Canada reported.
In a study published online Monday, StatsCan reported that men aged 17 to 24 in the three oil-producing provinces -- Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador – were more likely to be employed and less likely to be enrolled at a post-secondary institution than their peers in other provinces.
As wages rose, according to the report, employment rates among men in that age group increased by between five and six percentage points between 2001 and 2008. In non-oil-producing provinces, employment increased among men in that age group by two percentage points over the same period.
Meanwhile, school enrolment among young men fell as wages went up. In Alberta, for example, enrolment among young men in a secondary or post-secondary institution fell from 44 per cent to 37 per cent between 2001 and 2008. Meanwhile, the percentage of young men enrolled in a secondary or post-secondary institution in non-oil-producing provinces increased from 52 per cent to 53 per cent over the same time period.
Also using Alberta as an example, the number of young men attending university full-time dropped from 17 per cent to 16 per cent, but rose from 20 per cent to 24 per cent in non-oil-producing provinces.
As well, the proportion of young men who were neither enrolled in school nor employed declined between 2001 and 2008. In Alberta, the share fell by 3 percentage points, compared to just one percentage point in the rest of the country.
“These differential movements in employment rates, full-time university enrollment rates, and rates of youth neither in school nor at work remain when other factors, such as changes in minimum wage rates, labour market conditions and tuition fees are taken into account,” the report said.
The study did not look into whether young men who went to work rather than enroll in post-secondary education planned to continue their studies in the future.
