Thought I’d share what I learned in class today. Not that I didn’t already know this but I was able to learn more about it. That being the United Nations Human Development Index. You can take a look at Canada’s UN HDI HERE.

So it looks all fine and dandy right? In fact it is number 8 in comparison to the rest of the world. Still pretty good.

Well today in class I learned that this index is measured on several indicators. Those being income (GDP/Capita), Educational attainment (elementary, secondary, tertiary), life expectancy…just to name a few.

If you take a look at life on First Nations reserves that number sort of drops a little. Apparently, as I learned in class today and based on this scale, First Nations HDI ranks at 79th level in the world. Not so great is it.

Life expectancy for Aboriginal peoples in Canada: The projected life expectancy for 2017 for non-Aboriginal populations in Canada is 79 years for males and 83 for females. For Inuit populations, it is 64 for men and 74 for females. Similar rates exist among Metis and First Nations people at 73-74 years for males and 78-80 for females. (That means the project life expectancy for Inuit males that 15 years less than non-Aboriginal populations and for Inuit females that is 6 years less. For Metis/First Nations people that is 5-6 years less for males and 4-6 years less for females.)

Educational attainment for Aboriginal peoples in Canada: 1/4 of non-Aboriginal people have a university degree compared to 9% Metis; 7% First Nations; 4% Inuit (That’s 20% total for 3 different groups of Aboriginal people) Oh and the Aboriginal population, 33% had less than a high school degree compared to the 13% of non-Aboriginal population.

Income level for Aboriginal peoples in Canada: Median income was 22,000 compared to the 33,000 for non-Aboriginals.

Canada doesn’t look so hot now does it when you compare it to it’s Aboriginal populations. Remember that people, not everything is what it seems when it comes to those and especially those part of marginalized groups.