• 33% of Canadians were at level 3, which means that they can read well but may have problems with more complex tasks. This level is considered by many countries to be the minimum skill level for successful participation in society.
• 20% of Canadians were at levels 4 or 5. These people have strong literacy skills, including a wide range of reading skills and many strategies for dealing with complex materials. These Canadians can meet most reading demands and can handle new reading challenges.
• Approximately twenty-five percent (25%) of Atlantic Canadians function at literacy Level 1. Another twenty seven percent (27%) function at literacy Level 2, an approximate equivalent to a grade 8 skill level⁶.

The Department of Education in Nova Scotia provides the following approximate equivalents to the four literacy levels described by IALS.⁷

4.2 Literacy among Persons with Disabilities

The situation is somewhat more serious for persons with disabilities. Joel Macht, in his Literacy and Disability study of December 2000, found that between 50% and 77% of people with disabilities function at the lowest two literacy levels (Kapsalis, 1999). In fact, Macht, quotes a study entitled The Effects of Disability on Literacy Skills which found that 77% of people with learning disabilities in Canada function below level 3 and 52% of those individuals function at level 1. The same study found that 48% of people with physical disabilities function below level 3 compared with 36% of people without disabilities.

The following chart provides a comparative view of the Canadian population functioning at levels 1 and 2:

⁶ National Adult Literacy Database website – http://www.nald.ca/nls/nlsild/fact3.htm
⁷ Nova Scotia Department of Education, Community Learning Initiative Learner Profile: 1999–2000, page 1