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: The Kelowna CMA had a rate of 16.8 percent in 2007. 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 with a university education grew by 31.8 percent between 1998 and 2007. Over the same period, the Victoria CMA had growth of 21.3 percent, the Vancouver CMA had growth of 31.8 percent, Regional BC had growth of 27.8 percent and the Abbotsford CMA's proportion of the population (aged 25-64) with a university education grew by 34.5 percent.

The proportion of the population with a university education was similar in the Vancouver and Victoria CMAs until 2000 when Vancouver began to pull ahead.

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