International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey
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http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/051109/d051109a.htmThis report provides a detailed examination of the results of Canadian adults with regard to their “prose”, “document”, “numeracy” and “problem-solving” skills in 2003. As noted in Volume 4, No. 3 of the Arts Research Monitor, the 2003 International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey found that 42% of Canadians scored below Level 3 prose literacy, “the desired threshold for coping with the increasing skill demands of a knowledge society”.
The report groups the provinces and territories based on average literacy scores. The highest-achieving group includes the
Literacy performance was highest among anglophones and lower among Aboriginal people and immigrant Canadians. It should be noted, however, that the survey examined literacy in English and French only, not Aboriginal or other languages.
Contrary to the researchers’ expectations, the 2003 survey “found little improvement in the overall literacy of adult Canadians since they were assessed a decade ago”.