Returns to Apprenticeship: Analysis based on the 2006 Census

We utilize the 2006 Census -- the first large-scale, representative Canadian data set to include information on apprenticeship certification -- to compare the returns from apprenticeships with those from other educational pathways (high school graduation, non-apprenticeship trades and community college). An apprenticeship premium prevails for males but a deficit is evident for females, with this pattern prevailing across the quantiles of the pay distribution, albeit with the premium being larger for males at the lower quantiles. Reasons for these patterns are discussed as are the relative importance of differences in the endowments of wage determining characteristics and differences in pay for the same wage determining characteristics.