Aboriginal Children & Youth

Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs Quick Facts

Demographics

More Aboriginal children live in urban areas than on reserves. According to the 2006 Census, there are 64,335¹ Aboriginal children and youth in Ontario. Over half, or 59 per cent live in urban area, while 24 per cent live on reserves (Figure 1b).

Figure 1a: Areas of Residence, 2001 (Total 55,655)
	Population
Urban	58%
Rural	17%
On-Reserve	25%

Figure 1b: Areas of Residence, 2006 (Total 64,335)
	Population
Urban	59%
Rural	17%
On-Reserve	24%

Aboriginal Identity

According to the 2006 Census, 72 per cent, or 46,450 Aboriginal children and youth in Ontario are First Nations. Twenty-four per cent, or 15,425 children and youth, are Métis. The remaining four per cent, or 2,425, are Inuit, have multiple Aboriginal identities, or have another Aboriginal identity (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Age Distribution of Aboriginal Children in Ontario by Aboriginal Identity
	Under 5 years	5-9 years	10-14 years
First Nations	74%	73%	70%
Métis	22%	24%	26%
Inuit, Multiple Aboriginal Identity, Other	4%	3%	4%

Families

According to Statistics Canada's 2006 Aboriginal Children's Survey (ACS), which surveys children and families living off reserves, 66 per cent of Aboriginal children under six years old live with two parents.

Thirty-one per cent live with a single parent. Eighty-nine per cent of children living off reserves live in a two-generation family and eight per cent live in a three-generation family (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Family Structure for Aboriginal Children Under 6 years (off-reserve)
	% Aboriginal Children
Living in a three generation family	8%
Living in a two generation family	89%
Two parents	66%
Single parent	31%

Child Care

According to the ACS, 48 per cent of all children under six living off reserves have regular child care.

Thirty-seven per cent of these children go to daycares or child care centres. Only 10 per cent of Aboriginal children attend pre-school programs before they reach school age. Only three per cent of Aboriginal children living off reserves attend daycares or child care centres where caregivers speak Aboriginal languages (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Aboriginal Children in Child Care (Under 6, off reserve)
	% Aboriginal Children
Receiving regular child care	48%
Daycare or child care centre	37%
Nursery school/preschool	10%
Aboriginal language used in child care	3%

Education

According to the ACS, 53 per cent of Aboriginal youth aged six to 14 years old living off reserves attend early childhood development or pre-school programs. Fifteen per cent attend Aboriginal-specific programs (Figure 5). Seventy per cent of parents say their children are doing well or very well in school (Figure 6).

Figure 5: Aboriginal Youth In Child Care (Ages 6-14)
	% Aboriginal Youth
No preschool	47%
Preschool	53%
Aboriginal Preschool	13%

Figure 6: Parents' Perception of Children's School Performance
	% Parents
Poor or very poor	5%
Average	24%
Well or very well	70%

Knowledge Of Aboriginal Languages

According to the ACS, two-thirds, or 67 per cent of Aboriginal youth living off reserves neither speak nor understand an Aboriginal language. Only nine per cent speak and understand an Aboriginal language (Figure 7).

Figure 7: Knowledge of an Aboriginal Language (Ages 6-14)
	% Aboriginal Youth
Neither speak nor understand	67%
Able to understand only	23%
Able to speak and understand	9%

Show source data tables

Source: All Data from Statistics Canada, 2006 Census, 2001 Census and the 2006 Aboriginal Children's Survey, which is conducted off-reserve only. The Census does not collect data on the same topics as the ACS.

* Seven First Nations chose not to participate in the 2006 Census, and three First Nations were incompletely enumerated. Based on INAC data, the estimated total population that is either incompletely or non-enumerated is 54,000.

Note: The Aboriginal identity population is comprised of those persons who reported identifying with at least one Aboriginal group, that is, North American Indian, Métis or Inuit, and/or those who reported being a Treaty Indian or a Registered Indian, as defined by the Indian Act of Canada, and/or those who reported they were members of an Indian band or First Nation.

1 This number is lower than the actual number of Aboriginal children and youth in Ontario, because 10 Aboriginal communities in Ontario either did not participate in the Census, or were incompletely enumerated. According to information from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, the total population of these 10 communities is about 54,000 people.