Olena Hankivsky
Simon Fraser University
December 2008

Executive Summary

In Canada, as in other jurisdictions, an “adequate education” is generally considered at minimum to include a high school diploma. Since the 1990s, increasing high school completion1 rates has been identified as a key policy priority, essential to the future productivity of the Canadian economy.

It is generally accepted that high school completion benefits individuals and Canadian society as a whole (Canadian Council on Learning, 2007). Similarly, the OECD’s Education at a Glance 2006 reports that “[e]vidence of the public and private benefits of education is growing” (2006a: 4). Awareness of the various negative consequences of low educational attainment is also increasing. A growing body of evidence is demonstrating that dropping out of high school is a major social problem that can often have devastating effects. Indeed, as Oreopoulos argues, “…high school drop-outs fare much worse later in life than those who obtain more education” (2005, p. 1).

Despite advances in knowledge made to date, few people recognize the full extent to which low educational attainment affects society. Educational inequity is an issue of justice and fairness; however, it is also an issue with significant economic costs to the state, which are associated with lost opportunities for those who fail to complete high school.

Directly or indirectly, high school non-completion has enormous fiscal implications in terms of expenditures on health, social services and programs, education, employment, criminality, and lower economic productivity. As Levin et al. observe: “An individual’s educational attainment is one of the most important determinants of their life chances in terms of employment, income, health status, housing and many other amenities” (Levin, Belfield, Meunnig, & Rouse, 2007, p. 2).

The goal of this study is to present a portrait of economic costs—to the state and to the individual—associated with high school non-completion in Canada. Accordingly, the single variable—failure to graduate high school—is examined across a variety of related policy sectors.

>> Download report Cost Estimates of Dropping Out of High School in Canada.