Study: Literacy and adult learning in Canada

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Dramatic demographic change, such as the rapid aging of Canada's population, is underlining the urgency of addressing the issue of adult learning.

Today, the ratio of Canadians of working age to people of retirement age is just above 5 to 1. However, this ratio is projected to fall to 4 to 1 within 15 years, and to less than 2.5 to 1 by 2050.

As fewer young, highly skilled people enter the labour market, productivity gains become increasingly dependent on the continuous retraining of the existing workforce. This means workers may be encouraged to stay in the labour force far beyond the normal age of retirement.

This study presents a comprehensive portrait of adult learning, including participation in organized forms of adult learning (formal and non-formal learning) as well as informal learning. It uses data from the 2003 Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey, which, when appropriate, are compared with results from the 1994/1998 International Adult Literacy Survey.

The study found that despite talk of an emerging "learning society," Canadians did not participate more in adult education courses in 2003 than they did in 1994. In fact, their participation rates were somewhat lower than those of workers in three other countries in the study: the United States, Norway and Switzerland. Canadians also spent less time on their studies.

Data showed that Canadians who were least likely to participate in adult learning had low levels of literacy skills; came from low socio-economic backgrounds; were older and less educated; and were women and/or immigrants. In many cases, these people belonged to more than one group at the same time, which exacerbated differences.

The study found that adults within specific vulnerable groups who had medium to high literacy skills were substantially more likely to participate in adult education and training than adults in the same groups who had low literacy skills.

Canada has witnessed a substantial decline in the adult education and training of people who are either unemployed or not in the labour force. This corresponds to a dramatic decline in direct financial support from government sources between 1994 and 2003.

The study showed that a large proportion of adults with poor foundation skills—that is, low literacy skills—were still not being reached by organized forms of adult learning. But there were significant differences in participation patterns among countries, suggesting that differences in adult learning policy do matter.

Close to 1 in 5 Norwegians with low literacy skills got support from the government, compared with just over 1 in 10 in Canada. Government support for people with low literacy skills is less frequent in Canada than in the United States.

Data from the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey also showed just how strongly participation in adult education and training has become linked to the world of work.

Job and workplace characteristics, such as firm size, type of industry and occupation and supervisory position, have an impact on the likelihood of benefiting from employer-sponsored education and training.

Furthermore, the levels of engagement in literacy and numeracy practices on the job have been strongly associated with the likelihood of benefiting from employer-sponsored adult education and training.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 4406.

The study, "Adult Learning: A Comparative Perspective: Results from the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey," as part of the International Adult Literacy Survey Series (89-552-MIE2007017, free), is now available from the Publications module of our website.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-800-307-3382; 613-951-7608; fax: 613-951-4441; educationstats@statcan.gc.ca), Culture, Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics.