The relationship between educational attainment and literacy proficiency is also evident in the provinces and territories with some variation observed in individual jurisdictions. At the national level, individuals with a university degree score on average 77 points higher than those with less than a high school education. Compared to the national average, this difference is less pronounced in Manitoba and more pronounced in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, the Northwest Territories and in Nunavut.
As noted in Chapter 1, there has been no significant change in the Canadian average prose literacy score between 1994 and 2003. When average literacy scores over this period are observed by level of education, the prose literacy score is slightly higher in 2003 compared to 1994 for those with less than a high school education. In contrast, there is an apparent decline in the prose literacy score among adults with higher levels of education during the same time period. Only at the university level is the decline significant, however (Figure 2.11).
Figure 2.11
Note: Non-university post-secondary includes those matriculating from a trade/vocational school.
Source: International Adult Literacy Survey, 1994; International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey, 2003.