LEARNING
Lifelong learning and educational achievement affect our ability to participate in a competitive workforce, achieve higher incomes, and escape the cycle of poverty.
Creating the conditions for youth to thrive
Learning
Creating the conditions for youth to thrive
When youth see their ideas take shape in the real world, it affirms their voice, builds momentum, and deepens learning. “I discovered that I’m smart, creative, and have potential,” says one PowerPlay participant.
The Young Entrepreneurs of Canada Association delivers PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs—a free, six-to-eight-week, experiential, game-based business and financial literacy program for grades four to eight. Aligned with the BC curriculum, students build and launch their businesses. This strengths-based approach has fostered critical thinking, autonomy, and real-world learning within a safe, inclusive learning environment. “Making and spending my own money increased my confidence,” shares a student.
PowerPlay Young Entrepreneurs helps youth turn ideas into action while building skills in design thinking, teamwork, and business planning. 21% of participants reported greater curiosity and willingness to explore new things. Teachers give PowerPlay an A+ for connecting diverse learning styles with entrepreneurship, enhancing financial literacy, and nurturing independence.
With Victoria Foundation’s support, PowerPlay reached 752 students in 34 classrooms last year, including Salt Spring, Galiano, Mayne, and Pender Islands, doubling its reach across the CRD. “Students with diverse learning needs engaged in hands-on, experiential learning that played to their strengths,” observes Anna Kato, teacher, SD61.
Photo by: Jo-Ann Richards, Works Photography
Vital signs citizen survey grade
BLast year's grade was B
Learning
Vital signs citizen survey grade
BSustainable Development Targets
4.1: Ensure all complete primary and secondary education
4.6: Achieve literacy and numeracy
Text here.
Sustainable Development Targets
HIGH SCHOOL NON-COMPLETION
% Population, aged 15 years and older, who have not completed high school
SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA
THEN & NOW
Since the first Vital Signs report in 2006, the high school non-completion rate in the region has declined steadily from 17% in 2006 to 8% in 2024, with rates for Victoria CMA consistently lower than rates for BC and Canada.
SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA
POST-SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT
% Population, aged 15 years and older, who have completed some form of post-secondary education
SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA
COMMUNITY IN FOCUS
I,ŚETEṈ E TŦE ĆESE ŚX̱ENÁṈs TEṈEW̱
Walking In Two Worlds, a 2024 documentary, chronicles the 50-year journey of the W̱SÁNEĆ School Board.
Formed in 1972, the originally named Saanich Indian School Board was one of the first Indigenous-run school boards in the province—a direct response to the residential and day school system that sought to assimilate Indigenous children, severing their connection to language and culture.
Walking in Two Worlds traces the journey from the three-room Tsartlip Indian Day School to a flourishing campus. It spotlights the incredible efforts of grandmothers, mothers, aunties, Elders, and leaders to reclaim the right to educate their own children, grounded in W̱SÁNEĆ cultural values and the SENĆOŦEN language.
Co-produced by Emily Olsen and Benjamin Joel Cran, the film honours the work of the late documentarian, Philip Paul. The film was screened by community members and premiered publicly in 2025.
SOURCE: W̱SÁNEĆ SCHOOL BOARD
UNDERGRADUATE TUITION FEES
Average undergraduate tuition fees for domestic students in 2024/25
$6787Greater Victoria (Victoria CMA) up from $6,654 in 2023/24
$6607British Columbia
$7360Canada
Tuition rates in the region have risen steadily over the past decade from $5,591 in 2016/17.
Note: Tuition fees of the University of Victoria and Royal Roads University were combined to calculate the weighted average. This data excludes financial assistance or tax rebates provided to students. Average fees are in current dollars and a total for all fields of study.
SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA
SCHOOL CONNECTEDNESS
In 2023, youth, aged 12–19 years, in South Vancouver Island were asked how much they agreed with a series of statements about their school experience. Reflecting the provincial trend, local youth were less likely to feel connected to school and less likely to feel safe there than those five years earlier.
Youth who agreed/strongly agreed they felt …
| 2018 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|
| School staff expected them to do well | 79% | 74% |
| School staff treated them fairly | 72% | 66% |
| Safe at school | 77% | 65% |
| Teachers cared about them | 70% | 64% |
| Like a part of the school | 60% | 54% |
| Happy to be at school | 61% | 53% |
| Other school staff cared about them | 54% | 48% |
SOURCE: MCCREARY CENTRE SOCIETY
EDUCATION AND ADULT MORTALITY
Every year spent in school or university improves life expectancy,
while not attending school is as deadly as smoking or heavy
drinking, according to the first systematic review to directly link
years of education to longevity.
Using evidence from 59 higher-income countries, the 2024
peer-reviewed analysis found an adult’s risk of mortality from all
causes went down by 2% for every year in full-time education.
This effect persisted across age, sex, social class, and demography, and did not diminish at higher levels of education.
The study found completing 18 years of education is the equivalent of a lifetime of eating a healthy diet, lowering the risk of death by 34% compared with those with no formal education. Conversely, not attending school at all was as bad for adult health as consuming five or more alcoholic drinks every day or smoking 10 cigarettes each day for a decade.
SOURCE: LANCET PUBLIC HEALTH
Housing