Study finds big gaps between three N.B. First Nations and nearby towns

A new study looked at three First Nations in New Brunswick. First Nations are Indigenous communities. It compared Neqotkuk, Esgenoôpetitj and Elsipogtog with nearby towns: Perth-Andover, Neguac and Rexton. It used census data from 2021. A census counts all people in Canada. In the First Nations, the share of people with university degrees was less than half of that in the nearby towns. There were also gaps in jobs and income. People in the First Nations are also much younger. Pierre-Marcel Desjardins, an economist at Université de Moncton, did the study. The three communities want more federal money for education.