Adults
Illiteracy and literacy
Statistics
International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALSS)
On November 30, 2005, Statistics Canada released the Canadian results of the International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALSS, 2003). The long-awaited findings of this new survey arrived close to 10 years after the previous one, the 1994 International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), which had been the first-ever comparative international survey on adult literacy.
The main observation that emerges from these recent results is that general literacy* skills have shown little change between 1994 and 2003. In Canada, 15% of the population aged 16–65 have very low proficiency in prose literacy (Level 1 on a scale of 5), compared with 17% in 1994. These individuals will be unable, for instance, to decode a medicine label. This proportion rises to 42% if we add Level 2—low proficiency (individuals are able to make simple deductions and compare certain information). However, proficiency Level 3 was established as the "desired" threshold for functioning easily in today’s society, with its growing requirements calling for greater adaptability.
In Quebec, a significant proportion of the population do not attain level 3, despite some improvement in literacy skills over the past 10 years. Some 16% of adults aged 16-65 were rated at the lowest level on the scale of prose proficiency (Level 1), while almost every second Quebecer (aged 16–65) lacks the skills needed to use information in order to function fully within society and the economy (Levels 1 and 2).
| According to the findings of the International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALSS), 800,000 Quebecers aged 16-65, or one adult in six (16%), are on the lowest rung of the reading ability scale. |
If you would like further information concerning the Canadian results of the International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey, you may visit the Statistics Canada Web site or read Literacy in Quebec in 2003: Highlights, available shortly in English in PDF format on the Institut de la statistique du Québec site. For further details concerning the Quebec report, you may read Développer nos compétences en littératie : un défi porteur d'avenir (Developing Our Literacy Skills – Meeting the Challenge of the Future), also available (in French only) on the Institut de la statistique du Québec site.
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* Using printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge and potential.
Schooling and Quebec regions
As to more detailed data specific to each of Quebec’s regions, the only figures that can give us an idea of how many people could potentially benefit from basic training in reading and writing are those on schooling. These data come from the 2006 Canadian Census and concern individuals whose highest diploma obtained is a diploma of secondary studies or the equivalent.
In Quebec, 1,166,705 individuals aged 15–64, or 23% of the labour force, have a diploma of secondary studies or the equivalent as the highest diploma completed.
While schooling alone does not explain illiteracy, it does act as an indicator, since literacy is primarily acquired at school, and in all countries a link is seen between level of education and literacy.