Toronto, ON — Working-age Canadians are greatly disadvantaged by their low literacy levels, a situation that has persisted over the past decade and that promises only to worsen with serious consequences to individual citizens and the economy. That is one of the key messages arising from the findings of the International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALSS), released by Statistics Canada, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, the US National Center for Education Statistics and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Among its findings, it is evident that the economic outcomes of persistent low literacy in our population are widespread and will likely increase in their severity as the demands of the workplace increase — even among those occupations traditionally considered to be ‘lower-skilled’ — and as the immigrant population increases.

Many youth ill-prepared for success

Specifically, many young adults do not score the minimum literacy level (a Level 3) required for working effectively in the workplace. Though IALSS states that “the majority of youth have prose literacy proficiency at Level 3 or above,” the reality is that, province to province, those ‘majorities’ range anywhere from 62 per cent of youth, aged 16 to 25, to 82 per cent. When Level 3 is the minimum score one should attain to deal with the complexities of life and work, this range means that there are many youth who are ill-prepared for success, both in terms of meeting challenges in the workplace and in realizing their potential at work, at home and in the community.

Immigrants face huge gap in realizing potential

Similarly, despite the high educational levels immigrants have achieved in their country of origin, they do not have the literacy and numeracy skills needed to function fully in the Canadian economy. IALSS states that a significantly higher proportion of immigrants, relative to Canadian-born citizens, has low literacy: 60 per cent score below Level 3, compared with 37 per cent of native-born Canadians. In addition, the proportion of immigrants scoring low literacy does not vary by length of stay in Canada. Recent immigrants (10 years or less in the country) have the same average score in all four domains studied by IALSS — prose literacy, document literacy, numeracy and problem-solving — as established immigrants (in the country for more than 10 years). Recent immigrants are more highly educated than established immigrants, so their comparable scores in literacy and numeracy emphasize the gap between their potential and their realizing that potential in the Canadian workplace.

Urgent need for addressal of skills loss

IALSS paints a picture of a lack of skills that is pervasive and that will only worsen as the demands of work increase through such measures as the increased application of information communications technologies, and as the demographics of the workforce evolve.

Individuals with Levels 1 and 2 skills are at the most risk of losing their current jobs as a result of technological, process or organizational change, including job losses due to outsourcing. It is unlikely that these individuals have the reading and numeracy skills to cope with the majority of jobs that will replace the jobs they have lost. The net effect of these developments is a citiizenry that cannot reach its personal and professional potential and that cannot contribute fully to Canada’s economy.

“Canada’s adult literacy and numeracy challenge demands that further investment be made by many stakeholders, including business and labour leaders and all levels of government, in establishing policies and practices that will stem this skills loss,” says Christine Featherstone, President and CEO, ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation. It was to that end that numerous literacy and business organizations, including ABC CANADA, met with The Hon. Claudette Bradshaw, Minister of State for Human Resources Development, during the summer and into November, to provide input for the development of a comprehensive Pan-Canadian Literacy and Essential Skills Strategy — an initiative spearheaded by Minister Bradshaw.

The literacy community applauds that initiative and looks to some positive developments, regardless of how fortunes may blow in an upcoming federal election.

The findings released today provide further details regarding the 2003 International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALSS), some highlights of which were released November 9, 2005. IALSS is a companion piece to the earlier Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALL) Survey, released May 11, 2005.

The top-line statistic arising from these surveys is that15% of Canadians aged 16-65 have difficulty comprehending any printed material (a Level 1 literacy) and an additional 27% of adult Canadians can read only simple material (Level 2) and do not meet the minimum skills level suitable for coping with the demands of everyday life and work. This amounts to 42 per cent of adult Canadians having low literacy.

Literacy levels have effectively remained the same since the earlier survey conducted in 1994.

Note: Estimates for 2003 Atlantic and Western Provinces based on a weighted average using total population.