Ontario boasts the highest postsecondary participation and attainment rates among Canadian provinces, ranking high in international comparisons as well. A 2010 report from Statistics Canada, Education Indicators in Canada: An International Perspective, indicates that 63% of Ontario's population aged 25-34 have educational attainment to at least the tertiary level as compared to the national average of 56% and the average across OECD countries of 37%. A study commissioned by Colleges Ontario found that, between 2001-02 to 2006-07, 60% of Ontario students enrolled directly in postsecondary programs (34% in university, 20% in college, and 6% in apprenticeships) after five years of secondary school.
Despite these comparatively strong participation and attainment rates, under-represented groups in Ontario face access issues that are common around the world. The Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) illustrates that issues such as geography and disability have negative impacts on participation that may largely relate back to family income and the cost of postsecondary education, but the two most significant factors affecting postsecondary participation in Ontario are parents' level of education and Aboriginal status, factors that relate more to the perception of higher education rather than the actual costs.
Ontario's Liberal government and the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development embarked on the Reaching Higher plan for postsecondary education in the province beginning in 2005. The plan calls for a $6.2 Billion investment in postsecondary education to address such issues as capacity, access, financial assistance and more, including a target postsecondary attainment rate of 70%.
Reaching Higher follows the 2005 report by the Honourable Bob Rae, Ontario: A Leader in Learning (a.k.a. the Rae Report), which also sparked the creation of the HEQCO. While current government efforts are intended to address issues of access, the HEQCO warns that a lack of reliable system-wide data will make it difficult to monitor the effects of these efforts and the state of access and participation in the future. One current source of data, Stats Canada's Youth in Transitions Survey (YITS), will soon end while another Stats Canada source, the Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID), provides less comprehensive data with respect to higher education transitions specifically.
In 2014, Ontario postsecondary enrolment fell for the first time in 15 years, with 2.9% fewer students enrolled at universities and 3.5% fewer at community colleges.