Key Messages
Simcoe Muskoka
Simcoe County
District of Muskoka
By Gender
Technical Notes
Further Reading
Key Messages
- According to the 2021 Census, 60.4% (or 189,075 people) of Simcoe Muskoka adults aged 25 to 64 years had completed a post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree, 29.4% (or 91,960) had a high school diploma or equivalent as the highest educational credential earned, and 10.2%, or 32,030 people, reported not having a certificate, diploma or degree. This is a similar trend to what was found in 2016.
- In comparison, 67.9% (or 5,146,170) of Ontario residents aged 25 to 64 completed a post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree, 23.3% (or 1,770,810) had a high school diploma or equivalent as the highest educational credential earned, and 8.8% (or 667,665) did not have a high school diploma or certificate.
- In Simcoe Muskoka, a higher percentage of the women+ population aged 25-64 years of age had completed a post-secondary degree or diploma (64.9% women+ compared to 55.7% men+).
Simcoe Muskoka:
- In Simcoe Muskoka, 89.8% (or 281,035 people) of the population reported having a high school diploma or equivalent or higher (including certificate, diploma or degree), while 10.2% (or 32,030 people) reported not having a certificate, diploma or degree.
- The percentage of adults aged 25 to 64 without a high school diploma decreased from 12.0% in 2016 to 10.2% in 2021 and the percentage of adults that reported completing a post-secondary degree or diploma increased from 58.2% in 2016 to 60.4% in 2021 in Simcoe Muskoka.
Highest Certificate, Diploma or Degree Among Simcoe Muskoka Adults (aged 25-64) in 2021
Simcoe County
- In Simcoe County, 60.5% (or 169,545) of the population aged 25-64 had a post-secondary certificate, degree or diploma in 2021, 29.2% (or 81,665) had a high school diploma or equivalent as the highest educational credential earned and 10.3% (or 28,800) reported no certificate, diploma or degree. This is a similar trend to what was found in 2016.
- Springwater (68.9% or 7,890 people) and Oro-Medonte (68.6% or 8,305 people) are the only Census subdivisions in Simcoe County with a higher percentage of the population aged 25-64 years with a post-secondary degree, certificate or diploma than Ontario (67.9% or 5,146,170 people).
- The Census subdivisions in Simcoe County with the highest percentage of the population aged 25-64 years without a high school diploma were Bradford West Gwillimbury (12.9% or 3,025 people), Orillia (12.6% or 2,075 people), and Wasaga Beach (12.3% or 1,395 people).
District of Muskoka
- In the District of Muskoka, 59.1% (or 19,530 people) of the population aged 25-64 years had a post-secondary degree or diploma in 2021, 31.1% (or 10,295) had a high school diploma or equivalent as the highest educational credential earned and 9.8% (or 3,230) reported no certificate, diploma or degree. This is a similar trend to what was found in 2016.
- All Census subdivisions in the District of Muskoka had a lower percentage of the population aged 25-64 years with a post-secondary degree, certificate or diploma than Ontario. However, within the district of Muskoka, Muskoka Lakes (62.4% or 2,445 people) was the Census subdivision with the highest percentage of the population aged 25-64 years with a post-secondary degree, certificate or diploma.
- The Census subdivisions in the District of Muskoka with the highest percentage of the population aged 25-64 years without a high school diploma were Gravenhurst (14.0% or 850 people), Georgian Bay (13.4% or 225 people), and Lake of Bays (9.5% or 175 people).
By Gender
- In Simcoe Muskoka, a higher percentage of the women+ population aged 25-64 years of age had completed a post-secondary degree or diploma (64.9% women+ compared to 55.7% men+), while a higher percentage of the men+ population reported no high school diploma (12.6% men+ compared to 7.9% women+).
- This trend is similar to what was found in Simcoe Muskoka in 2016, where more women+ had completed a post-secondary degree or diploma compared to men+ (61.6% women+ compared to 54.6% men+).
Additional analysis of education data by immigrant status, income, employment, visible minority status, and Francophone status will be updated as it becomes available.
Technical Notes
In 2021, the Census included a question on gender for the first time, rather than solely sex. The sex variable in census years prior to 2021 and the two-category gender variable in the 2021 Census are included together in this analysis. Although sex and gender refer to two different concepts, the introduction of gender is not expected to have a significant impact on data analysis and historical comparability, given the small size of the transgender and non-binary populations (Statistics Canada, 2022).
Given that the non-binary population is small, data aggregation to a two-category gender variable is sometimes necessary to protect the confidentiality of responses provided. In these cases, people in the category “non-binary persons” are distributed in the other two gender categories and are denoted by the “+” symbol as women+ or men+ (Statistics Canada, 2022).
Census subdivision (CSD) generally refers to municipalities (e.g. Clearview Township) as well as areas considered equivalent to municipalities for reporting census data, such as First Nations reserves (e.g. Chippewas of Rama First Nation).
Local First Nation communities are included in the overall population totals for Census divisions (Simcoe County and the District of Muskoka). In regard to reporting of data at the Census subdivision-level, SMDHU is in the process of initiating conversations with local First Nation communities to determine which communities, and to what detail, data will be displayed on our HealthSTATS pages. As these conversations are had and decisions are made, updates may occur to this page.
Further Reading
For more information on the geographies in Canada, see:
Page Last Modified: April 27, 2023