Ethnic Differences in Academic Performance in Canada? A Statistical Note on Canadian Advanced Placement Results

In Canada, longstanding differences in cognitive ability and academic achievement exist between the European-origin majority and several traditional minority ethnic groups established prior to the mid-20th century. In particular, Aboriginal populations (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) and the historically rooted Black Nova Scotian population tend to score below the national average on various educational metrics. Meng Hu and I recently published findings based on data from 2013 to 2022 indicating that Black Nova Scotians score, on average, d = –0.46 below the non-Black Nova Scotian mean (Fuerst & Hu, 2024).

Less is known about the performance of more recent immigrant-origin groups, as academic performance data disaggregated by race/ethnicity is generally not collected at the national level in Canada. However, relatively high academic performance among Chinese and other Northeast Asian Canadians has been documented since Peter Sandiford’s research on Vancouver’s Chinese population in the 1920s (Sandiford & Kerr, 1926), with further evidence summarized by Vernon (1982). More recent national and provincial achievement data corroborate these findings (Bacic & Zheng, 2024; Barber et al., 2021). By contrast, average performance among other ethnic groups—such as Asian Indians, Filipinos, and Hispanics—remains less clear. The same applies to the children of Black African immigrants, many of whom come from highly selected backgrounds — and whom are highly educated. While I have previously reported ethnic performance data from the Toronto District School Board, these findings should not be assumed to generalize nationally or even across Ontario.

Recently, I was able to compile a decade’s worth of Canadian Advanced Placement (AP) data, as reported by College Board (years: 2009, 2011–2019) and to convert AP threshold pass rates into d-scores using the method of thresholds. Unfortunately, post-George Floyd, College Board changed its policy and ceased reporting Canadian scores by race/ethnicity; as a result, data after 2019 is not available.

Note, for these analyses, I dropped the three studio art scores along with all of the ‘language & culture’ scores, as Warne (2016) found that these tests had low correlations with PSAT scores. (Both the original and modified datafiles are attached; thus if readers wish they can modify the analyses as desired.) Moreover, I computed d-values with respect to the total mean; since Asians score higher, self-identifying White Canadians scored below average. Additionally, I dropped the American Indian group since there were too few individuals to allow for reliable estimates. While Hispanic/Latino is a “visible minority” group in Canada, the number reporting as Hispanic in the Canadian AP datasets seems excessive. This group may include Iberians in addition to Latin Americans.

Summary results are presented below, with the final row reporting weighted-average ACHQ scores. Unlike in the United States, AP exams are not widely taken in Canada, so these results should be interpreted with caution — they represent a few more data points.

Table 1. Canadian 2009-2019 Advance Placement Results by Self-reported race/ethnicity

For comparison, Warne (2016) reports that, in the United States, the weighted mean AP group differences in 2015 were: d = 0.774 (White–Black), d = 0.484 (White–Hispanic), and d = –0.156 (White–Asian). Thus, relative to the U.S., all non-White groups perform better on AP tests in Canada. For other national-level comparisons using Canadian datasets, see here. As I’ve previously argued, it would be worthwhile to collect more robust data on ethnic differences across a range of countries prior to hypothesizing about causes, rather than relying solely on U.S. data.

The R code and data files can be found here.

References

• Bacic, R., & Zheng, A. (2024). Race and the income‐achievement gap. Economic Inquiry, 62(1), 5–23.
• Barber, M., & Jones, M. E. (2021). Inequalities in test scores between Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in Canada. Economics of Education Review, 83, 102139.
• Sandiford, P., & Kerr, R. (1926). Intelligence of Chinese and Japanese children. Journal of Educational Psychology, 17(6), 361.
• Vernon, P., (1982). The abilities and achievements of orientals in North America. Academic Press.
• Warne, R. T. (2016). Testing Spearman’s hypothesis with Advanced Placement examination data. Intelligence, 57, 87–95.