Vast majority of Canadian students are meeting national standard in reading
Results from the 2016 Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP) show that Canada’s public school students continue to demonstrate high levels of proficiency in reading, mathematics, and science.
The assessment is given every 3 years to almost 30,000 grade 8 students in 1500 schools across Canada, and measures students’ abilities to use their learning skills to solve real-life situations. While it covers three areas of learning, the focus of the assessment rotates which subject is emphasized in each cycle.
Canadian grade 8 students have maintained high levels of proficiency since the assessment’s introduction in 2007, when 88% of students performed at or above the expected level of proficiency in reading. In 2010, 90% of students performed at or above the expected level of proficiency in math, and in 2013, 90% of students performed at or above the expected level of proficiency in science. In 2016, the PCAP assessment focused once again on reading.
| Percentage of students meeting or exceeding the expected* level of reading performance | |
| Province | |
| Canada | 88% |
| British Columbia | 88% |
| Alberta | 88% |
| Saskatchewan | 84% |
| Manitoba | 83% |
| Ontario | 89% |
| Quebec | 89% |
| New Brunswick | 82% |
| Nova Scotia | 85% |
| Prince Edward Island | 91% |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 82% |
| *The level at which students demonstrate the reading skills and competencies needed to participate effectively in school and in everyday life. | |
Among the key findings from the 2016 Report on the Pan-Canadian Assessment of
Reading, Mathematics, and Science:
- 88% of students across Canada performed at or above expected levels of proficiency in reading
- 14% of Canadian students performed above expected levels of proficiency in reading
- While girls continue to outperform boys in reading, there is no gender gap in performance for mathematics and only a very small gap in science.
- Ontario is the only province that performed above the Canadian average in reading proficiency in both interpreting text and critically responding to text.
- In most jurisdictions where English is the majority language, English-language school systems have higher achievement in science and reading, while French-language systems have higher achievement in mathematics.