Another way of assessing Canadian performance across these four domains is to examine the percentage of the population at proficiency Levels 1 and 2. The benefit of this method is that it allows one to see how literacy, numeracy and problem solving abilities are distributed, in varying degrees, in each of the jurisdictions under examination.
For the prose, document and numeracy scales, Level 3 is considered to be the desired threshold or the “…minimum for persons to understand and use information contained in the increasingly difficult texts and tasks that characterize the emerging knowledge society and information economy.” 1 (See Table I.1 in the Introduction for a description of the proficiency levels). Such a desired level has not yet been defined for the problem solving scale. (Figures 1.2A through 1.2D present the percentage of the population at each of the proficiency levels.)
Just under half of Canadian adults aged 16 and over, 48 percent, score below Level 3 on the prose and document literacy scales while just over half (55 percent) are below Level 3 on the numeracy scale. For those aged 16 to 65, the proportion below Level 3 on the prose literacy scale is 42 percent (See Text Bx B1).
Text box B1
Proficiency among 16 to 65 year-olds
As can be seen in Chapter 2 of this report, age and literacy performance are related. Performance is stronger in the younger age groups. This is clearly seen when the Canadian and jurisdictional average proficiency scores and levels are presented for only those aged 16 to 65; that is, excluding seniors. For example, 42 percent of those aged 16 to 65 score below Level 3 on the prose literacy scale. Yet, for those aged 16 and over the proportion is 48 percent - a reflection of the lower average scores among the 66 and over population. In prose literacy, the average score for the 16 to 65 year-old population is 281, corresponding to Level 3 proficiency. When seniors are included, the average score of those 16 and over is 272, corresponding to Level 2 proficiency. Nevertheless, even if the older population is excluded there remain about 9 million Canadians age 16 to 65 who score below Level 3 in prose literacy.
Table 1.1 in this chapter shows how provinces and territories compare to the national average across the four domains assessed by IALSS for the 16 and over population. When only those 16 to 65 are included, the picture is much the same. The Yukon, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia jurisdictions have average scores that are above the national average for 16 to 65 year-olds in each of the four domains. Three jurisdictions, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nunavut, all score below the national average for 16 to 65 year-olds for each of the four domains. One province, Quebec, scores below the national average for prose and document literacy and at the national average for numeracy and problem solving. All other jurisdictions score at the national average for 16 to 65 year-olds across all four domains.
For the 16 and over population, the Yukon has average proficiency scores that are higher than all other jurisdictions across all four domains, partly due to the fact that the Yukon’s population is more concentrated in the 25 to 54 age range. When the 66 and over population is excluded, the average scores for the 16 to 65 year-old population in the Yukon and the other high performing jurisdictions (Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia) are more similar (Tables 1.6 to 1.9 in Annex A present data for the 16 to 65 year-old population).