Canadian Council on Learning | Conseil Canadien sur l'Apprentissage

Voter turnout linked to civics class, CCL researchers find

January 18, 2006 Ottawa—A declining emphasis on civics education is linked to steadily decreasing voter turnout in Canada, according to a new paper from the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL).

Since the 1988 federal election, voter turnout has fallen by over 14 percentage points, from 75.3 percent to 60.9 percent in 2004. The numbers have caused much consternation about why so many more Canadians are not exercising their democratic right.

A common explanation turns its focus to youth—the age group least likely to visit a polling station. By looking at the available evidence to explore this assumption, CCL researchers discovered that what Canadians learn about citizenship in high school affects their convictions about whether to vote on election day.

CCL researchers found that Canadians with a low interest in politics were significantly more likely to vote if they had taken a civics course in high school. In fact, based on numbers from the 2004 Canadian Election Study (www.ces-eec.umontreal.ca), of those who expressed the least interest in politics, the 21 percent who took civics in high school indicated they were more likely to vote next time around.

“This finding suggests that it’s important for Canadians to learn what it means to be part of the democratic process, whether that happens in high school or somewhere else down the road,” said Dr. Paul Cappon, CCL’s President and CEO.

The CCL paper examines some of the common assertions about why young people are less politically engaged and are staying away from the polls. It also outlines how the role of civics and history education has diminished over the past several decades, as Canada’s schools have been putting more focus on math, science and computer science.

The full paper is available at: www.ccl-cca.ca/LessonsInLearning/.

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The Canadian Council on Learning is an independent, not-for-profit corporation funded through an agreement with Human Resources and Social Development Canada. Its mandate is to promote and support evidence-based decisions about learning throughout all stages of life, from early childhood through to the senior years.

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