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Skills and knowledge play a crucial role in determining the economic success of societies and individuals and its importance is evident in today's global economic environment. Equipping young people with the necessary skills provides them with the foundation for full participation in adult life as productive members of society and the economy. As such, the skill levels of youth are an important determinant of a country's economic success. Governments around the world recognize the importance of skills and invest heavily in their education systems. The outcomes of these investments require monitoring and analysis to ensure that these outcomes are meeting countries' needs.

The Programme for International Student Assessment was developed to provide a picture of the extent to which youth have acquired some of the knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in modern societies. Developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, PISA 2009 measures the skill levels of 15-year olds in 65 countries in three key subject areas – reading, mathematics and science.

In addition to providing information on skill levels of countries, PISA also enables countries to monitor change in their performance over time. Implemented every three-years since 2000, the 2009 PISA marks the fourth time that a comprehensive set of information on skills of 15-year olds has been available. For Canada, not only does PISA provide insight on the skill levels of its 15-year olds in an international perspective, it also provides an opportunity for individual provinces to compare themselves nationally and internationally and to monitor their change in performance over time.

The 2009 PISA results revealed that Canadian 15-year olds have relatively strong sets of skills in reading, mathematics and sciences. That Canada's youth is equipped with a high skill level is an encouraging sign for the country's future economic prosperity. However, although Canadian results remained statistically similar between 2000 and 2009, its relative ranking declined in all domains. This decline is attributable to improvements in other countries' performance and the introduction of new countries to PISA 2009 that had high performance. In reading, the major domain of PISA 2009, Canadian results also indicate a decrease in the proportion of high achievers between 2000 and 2009. In a global economy, this decrease may be one indication of potential loss of future competitiveness.

Although Canada's performance over time was not significantly different, several provinces experienced significant declines in their 15-year olds' skill levels, mostly in reading and in mathematics. In addition, over the same time period, there was not a significant increase in performance in the three domains in any province. The results also identified gender differences in performance as well as specific groups of 15-year olds who had significantly lower skill levels. Females continued to outperform males in reading, and males outperform females in mathematics and science although the gender gap is less pronounced in these two domains. Additionally, 15-year olds attending minority-language school systems tended to perform lower than those attending majority-language school systems in all three domains.

The results presented in this report are only a highlight of what is possible with a rich database such as PISA. A second Pan-Canadian report, with more detailed analyses of factors associated with student performance, will be published in early 2011. The array of sources of information on the skill levels of Canadians is growing. Along with results from other studies such as the Pan-Canadian Assessment Program, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study and the forthcoming Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies, a more complete picture of competencies of Canadians is emerging. These data sources will help to better our understanding of the levels of skills in the country, as well as the context in which learning is taking place.