Figure 3.13

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

Bar graph representation of Table 3.13

Legend for mean and .95 confidence interval for mean

Note: This figure contains certain unreliable estimates. Consult the table 3.13 in Annex A for the standard error of each estimate.

Source: International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey, 2003.

Proficiency of immigrants to Canada

Immigration has long been integral to Canada’s social, cultural and economic development. With time, both the character of immigration and its role in Canadian society have evolved to reflect new domestic and global realities.

While data on the characteristics of recent immigrants and their economic performance in Canada have been collected and analyzed extensively, no comprehensive data on the literacy level of recent immigrants have been previously available. The 2003 IALSS, has large enough samples of recent and established immigrants to answer key questions about the literacy levels of these two groups.

In this section, analysis is presented for three groups – the Canadian-born, recent immigrants (those who have been in Canada for 10 years or less) and established immigrants (those who have been in Canada for more than 10 years). Because sample sizes of immigrants in the 1994 IALS were too small to produce reliable estimates, no comparisons with the 1994 IALS are possible.