An aging population and an influx of immigrants means major Canadian cities will have a lot of adults with low literacy levels in the coming decades, warns a new report.
The Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) says Canada's major cities will see a spike in adults with low literacy.
Ottawa will see an 80% increase in adults with low literacy between 2001 and 2031, from about 275,000 to 500,000. Toronto will see an increase of 64% from 1.9 million to 3.2 million. Vancouver will see a 64% jump as well, from 800,000 to 1.3 million,
"These new numbers challenge the popular belief that the state of literacy in Canada will improve over time given Canada's growth in post-secondary graduates. The reality is that additional concentrated effort will be necessary," said Paul Cappon, CCL president, in a statement.
While the numbers are likely to jump, the percentage of adults with low literacy will actually drop from 48% now to 47% in 2031.
"Although the percentage with low literacy will change very little, we expect to see the number of adults living with low literacy increase by more than three million to one million within one generation. These numbers may appear distressing for municipal leaders and decision-makers, but I believe that this information can serve as a useful starting point to improve our literacy future,” said Cappon.
The report outlines a number of problems associated with rising illiteracy. People with low literacy are less likely to become employed or make decent wages, which means they rely more heavily on social assistance.
As well, low literacy is also linked to poorer health, and an influx could strain Canada's health-care system.
“On a grander scale, adult literacy levels have been shown to have a profound influence on the growth or decline of a country’s economy. Specifically, as the proportion of adults with low literacy skills increases, the overall rate of long-term GDP growth slows,” reads the report.
The report measures and predicts prose literacy, which is defined as “the knowledge and skills needed to understand and use information from text, such as news stories, editorials, poems and fiction.”
