Canadian Council on Learning | Conseil Canadien sur l'Apprentissage

Projection: 15 million Canadian adults with low literacy by 2031

June 12, 2008 Ottawa—A groundbreaking report, just released by the Canadian Council on Learning, shows that the number of adults with low literacy skills is growing across the country.  By 2031, the number is forecast to increase by more than three million to 15 million. The comprehensive new study, Reading the Future, contradicts the common belief that literacy is improving in Canada.

Dr. Paul Cappon, CCL’s President and CEO said, “It is not that more Canadians are illiterate; it’s that more Canadians experience some degree of significant difficulty in their ability to read, understand and function effectively.  Millions of our fellow citizens may learn to read but they cannot read to learn.”

Literacy projections		Success stories: Turning the page on low literacy
Calculate adult literacy rates into the future using PALMM (Projections of Adult Literacy—Measuring Movement), an interactive online complement to Reading the Future.		Video Series: the adults profiled in these videos explain what motivated them to improve their literacy skills and how that decision has changed their lives.

Reading the Future provides an unprecedented look at the human face of low literacy.  The report also offers a wide range of potentially effective approaches to improve adult literacy.

In 2008, almost half of adult Canadians (48%) are estimated to be below the internationally accepted literacy standard for coping in a modern society. Due to demographic changes the proportion will remain virtually unchanged over the next two decades. That translates into profound problems both for individuals and for the country.  Adults with low literacy are ill more often, experience more medication errors, have more workplace accidents, earn less and are more likely to die younger.  Canada’s social and economic well-being, health and competitiveness are strongly linked to literacy.  The impact of literacy upon health is striking when we consider that the number of senior citizens with low literacy skills will double to 6.2 million between today and 2031.

Good policy requires good evidence.  Reading the Future offers new demographic knowledge, wide-ranging and practical data, detailed analysis and key elements of a toolkit to help Canadians improve adult literacy levels.  Both the report and PALMM are intended to spur informed discussion among Canadians and support the development of effective programs and policies.

“What’s clear from this study is that the issue of literacy in Canada cannot be solved by any one group,” said Dr. Cappon. “Achieving success will require concerted effort from all levels of government, educators, employers, workers, community groups, families and individuals.”

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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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