How Well Can Canadians Read, Write, and Use Numbers?

To find out how well Canadians can read, write, and use numbers, the National Literacy Secretariat had Statistics Canada test Canadians from across the country. They asked people to read things such as ads from the Yellow Pages and school letters to parents. They also asked them to do things such as fill out a bank deposit slip, find a certain kind of apartment in a group of classified ads and compare grocery labels.

Source: Survey of Literacy Skills Used in Daily Activities, Statistics Canada

To get along in Canada today, people have to be able to do most of the kinds of reading, writing, and basic math that this test measured. Statistics Canada found that most Canadians, about two people out of three, can handle most of these everyday reading tasks. A lot of people can't.

One in three Canadians has trouble reading, writing, and using numbers

In fact, 38 per cent of the people, more than one in three Canadians, had some trouble. They were able to do only some of the reading, writing, and arithmetic, or none at all. When they were asked to read a medicine label or a pool schedule, figure out a telephone bill, or find the groceries they wanted in a store ad, many Canadians couldn't.

How Well Canadians Read, 1989

The test found that more than one Canadian in five avoids situations where they might have to read or write. With their low skill level, these Canadians find they have trouble understanding many things. They can handle reading materials that are very clear and simple, but many materials they have to read each day just aren't clear enough or simple enough.

One Canadian in six has even more serious problems reading and writing. They can only find words they know in very simple materials. Still others are not able to read at all, sometimes because they don't understand any English or French.

All kinds of Canadians

Canadians from many different backgrounds find that they cannot read and write well enough to do the things they want to do. Young people who don't graduate from high school may not have the reading and writing skills they need to find jobs that pay well. People who took special education classes or vocational programs in high school may not have spent enough time on reading and writing.

Many people who get into trouble with the law aren't able to read and write well. In some cases, this may have been one of the things that took away their chances to get jobs and create lives that could keep them from coming into conflict with the law.

Adults have poor reading and writing skills for all kinds of reasons. Different kinds of disabilities can keep people from learning as much as they might like to. Immigrants and Native Canadians can have trouble learning English or French as their second language, especially if they aren't able to read and write well in their first language.

Skills you can lose

People who have been without a job for a long time can forget these skills. And people whose jobs don't involve reading and writing may discover, after a few years, that it isn't as easy as it used to be to read and write.

People who haven't practiced the skills they learned in school sometimes find they can't do the things they used to be able to do. Mental or physical health problems can also take away people's abilities to read and write.

Whether people have lost skills they once had, or whether they never got to learn because as children they were shuffled around foster homes and schools, low literacy is not something people choose. They usually find themselves unable to handle reading and writing because of situations that are out of their control.