Stronger provincial economies have sent aboriginal unemployment and drop-out rates falling in Western Canada, according to a study released Thursday by Statistics Canada.

Among aboriginals living off-reserve, employment grew 23 per cent between 2001 and 2005 in Western Canada, compared with only 11 per cent for non-aboriginals, says the study.

Aboriginal Employment Rates in 2005
City	Rate
Winnipeg	57.5%
Saskatoon	54.3%
Regina	50.6%
Edmonton	58.7%
Calgary	70.8%
Vancouver	60.4%
Victoria	58.1%

During the same period, the proportion of 20- to 24-year-old aboriginal youth who had not finished high school dropped from 41 per cent to 31 per cent.

"The good news is that aboriginal people are starting to benefit from the increasingly tighter labour market conditions, particularly in Alberta and British Columbia," reads the report.

"Nevertheless, substantial gaps remain between the aboriginal and non-aboriginal populations."

Alberta best place to find job, Saskatchewan worst

Recent employment statistics were not available for aboriginal people living on reserves, so the report only looked at people living off-reserve. Previous surveys have shown about 70 per cent of aboriginals in Canada live off-reserve.

Alberta had the highest aboriginal employment rate in the West, with booming Calgary leading all western cities at 70.8 per cent. As well, the number of aboriginal people in trades apprenticeships was 1,100 in 2006, up from just 200 in 2001.

The most common occupational category for aboriginal men is construction trades, the Statistics Canada report said.
(CBC)

Saskatchewan continued to have the lowest aboriginal employment rate at 52 per cent, despite a small increase since 2001. Regina and Saskatoon had the lowest employment rates among Western Canada's cities at 50.6 and 54.3 per cent respectively.

Manitoba and British Columbia had the highest growth in aboriginal employment between 2001 and 2005, at about 30 per cent.

By 2017, aboriginal people of working age will number close to one million, or about 3.4 per cent of the working age population in Canada.

The most common occupation for aboriginal men in 2001 was construction trades, while for women it was clerical work.