From Books as Coasters to Bedtime Stories: Family Literacy in Alberta's Next Generation

Alberta’s position

Along with Yukon, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, Alberta adult proficiency scores are significantly above the Canadian average across all literacy domains. However, there is a large number of Canadians aged 16 and older who perform below Level 3 on the prose and document literacy scales. Since Level 3 is considered the minimum achievement level for people to adequately function in a highly technological environment, a significant number of people in the workforce are likely to experience serious challenges in coping with skill demands in a global, competitive and knowledge based economy.

Highlights of Alberta’s position include:

The Prairie provinces have the highest percentage (72%) of people engaged in active learning activities. People who function at Levels 4 and 5 for document literacy are twice as likely as those functioning at Level 1 to participate in informal learning activities. Continuous learning helps to maintain competencies as well as build new ones.
Generally, men have higher proficiency in numeracy than women.
There is a relationship between literacy and employability. Alberta and Saskatchewan are among the highest scoring jurisdictions in Canada and while those unemployed in other provinces score around Level 2, unemployed people in Alberta score at the lower end of Level 3.
Alberta has one of the highest proportions of knowledge experts with literacy scores in Levels 4 and 5.
Approximately one in five workers in primary industries is at Levels 4 and 5.
Youth ages 16 to 25 account for 15.2 percent of Alberta’s population. Although the proportion of youth with proficiency at Level 3 or higher is greater than the proportion of youth at Levels 1 and 2, over one third of youth currently have attained only Levels 1 and 2. This low level of functioning negatively affects post secondary education and success in the labor market.

These key findings illustrate the importance of building and maintaining human capital in workers currently in or looking to enter the province’s labor market.