Toronto, ON — The findings of the International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALSS), released November 9 with full details November 30, reveal a working-age (16 to 65) Canadian population lacking in the literacy skills needed to cope with the everyday demands of life and work — a social and economic challenge to become even more acute with on-the-job literacy demands increasing and the makeup of Canada’s workforce changing.

That is one of the key messages arising from IALSS, and reported in a four-page Summary of the survey’s findings released today by ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation. The survey was presented by Statistics Canada, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

IALSS findings reveal that many young adults, age 16 to 25, have not achieved the minimum literacy skills required for coping well with the complex tasks demanded in today’s workplace. Province to province, the percentage of young adults who do not achieve those required literacy skills range from 18 per cent to 38 per cent.

Also, a significantly higher proportion of working-age immigrants, relative to Canadian-born adults, have low literacy in Canada’s official languages: 60 per cent have low literacy compared with 37 per cent of Canadian-born adults.

IALSS paints a picture of a lack of skills that is pervasive and that will only worsen as the skill demands of work increase through the adoption of information and communications technologies (ICTs) and as the demographics of the workforce reflect greater proportions of immigrant workers. It is a situation that hampers Canadian adults realizing their potential and jeopardizes Canada’s competitive position.

“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 and increase the productivity levels of all Canadians,” says Christine Featherstone, President and CEO, ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation.

The Summary Report, which provides a handy reference guide to the survey’s key findings, is available on ABC CANADA’s website www.abc-canada.org. A printed copy can also be requested: Contact info@abc-canada.org.

View our Report Summary: International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALLS) (PDF, 428KB).

Our summary of related data released in May 2005 is also available: Report Summary: Learning a Living: First results of the Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALL) Survey.(PDF, 362KB).