Note to reader

As mentioned in Chapter 1, it is also important to view these findings in context. The survey was designed to measure literacy, numeracy and problem solving in one of the national official languages (French or English). However, in Nunavut, a high proportion of Inuit who responded to the IALSS reported that they function on a daily basis in an Aboriginal language – over 60 percent of respondents in Nunavut indicated a mother tongue of Inuktitut and over half of the population reported using this language for work, leisure and information on an everyday basis. So, while the survey does indeed measure the competencies in each domain in French or English, it probably does not provide an accurate overall picture of the effective proficiency of this population.

Figure 3.5

Average prose proficiency scores with .95 confidence interval and scores at the 5th, 25th, 75th and 95th percentiles, by Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, population aged 16 and over, 2003

Bar graph representation of Table 3.5

Legend for mean and .95 confidence interval for mean

Note: Populations have been ranked by the mean of prose scores.

Source: International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey, 2003.

Among the Aboriginal people surveyed, there is little difference in the average scores of those living in the Yukon Territory, urban Saskatchewan and urban Manitoba (Figure 3.5).