Why It's Important Though there are many different forms of post-secondary credentialing, university completion is an important indication of an area's efforts to build "top" academic, managerial and entrepreneurial skills necessary for the increasingly knowledge driven economy. Note: Regional BC includes the Kelowna CMA. The Kelowna CMA had a rate of 17.4 percent in 2008. Kelowna will be added to the analysis as data become available.

Regional Indicator Eight measures the percent of the population in British Columbia, aged 25 to 54, who have completed a university education. Excluded from the measure are persons in institutions, full-time members of the Armed Forces and persons living on Indian Reserves.

The percent of BC's population (aged 25-54) with a university education grew by 31.2 percent between 1999 and 2008. Over the same period, growth by region varied from a low of ten percent in Victoria to 34 percent in Vancouver.

The proportion of the population with a university education was similar in the Vancouver and Victoria CMAs until 2001 when Vancouver began to pull ahead. Victoria has been narrowing the gap in recent years.

The proportions in Regional BC and the Abbotsford CMA were similar and about half the rate seen in the Vancouver CMA.