Good morning, everyone.
On behalf of the the literacy coalitions in P.E.I., Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.
We have a lot to say on the issue of low literacy in Atlantic Canada and in Canada at large. In the interests of time, we've decided to review the highlights of the brief that all of you received.
To realize a stronger, more prosperous Canada, we need to strengthen the skills of Canadians across all regions. Literacy and the other essential skills are the foundations for all learning and involve not only reading but interpreting information in all forms. Literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills are key to the ability of Canadians to fully participate in our society and to contribute to economic growth. However, 49% of the working-age population in Canada is ranked below level 3, the level that workers in many Canadian occupations need to perform effectively.
The problem isn't necessarily about not being able to read. All but 15% of these workers have mastered the act of reading, a skill that allows them to apply routine procedural knowledge. What these workers cannot do is read well enough to be efficient problem-solvers and to apply their technical skills and knowledge in non-routine ways.
Atlantic Canada has some of the lowest literacy and essential skills levels in the country. The percentage of working-age adults in Atlantic Canada with low literacy is 46% in P.E.I., 50% in Nova Scotia, 54% in New Brunswick, and 56% in Newfoundland and Labrador. Since people of low literacy skills are more than twice as likely to be unemployed, it's not surprising that Atlantic Canada also has some of the highest unemployment rates in the country.
As organizations that provide much-needed literacy services, programs, and supports, we see the difference that literacy makes in the lives of individuals and their families. We would like to tell you the story of Kim, a learner in one of our adult literacy programs.
Kim began our program unable to read, due in part to a learning disability. Her early life in school was very challenging. Despite her desire to learn and despite her best efforts, she believed herself to be inadequate. To put it in her terms, she felt “stupid and unable to learn”. In Grade 10, Kim dropped out of school.
She worked at manual labour jobs for many years. After sustaining an injury that left her unable to continue working in labour jobs, and with no skills to secure another line of work, she had to rely on social assistance to provide for herself and her two children. Her confidence was shattered, and she spiralled into a cycle of addictions, poverty, and reliance on social assistance.
When Kim decided that she wanted a better life for herself and her family, she sought treatment and joined an adult literacy program. It was a big step toward her goal of independence. In less than a year, and with the help of the literacy tutor, she is well on her way to achieving her goals. With her new skills, she is now helping her children with their reading, for the first time since they began school.
Kim no longer feels as though she's inadequate or worthless. She believes in herself. With the continued support of the program and her tutor, Kim wants to write her GED test nd pursue a college diploma that will enable her to gain steady employment.
Each of our coalitions has stories of success like Kim's. Each story is unique, but given the statistics, Kim is typical of a woman who has low literacy skills and who is more likely to be unemployed, or employed in the lowest-paying jobs, and a single parent. There are many others like her who need access to supports in order to be successful and contribute to growth in Atlantic Canada.
Overall, Canada's opportunity for economic growth is hindered by the fact that 51% of workers have literacy skill levels below those needed to do their jobs well. These skill gaps hinder our opportunity for economic growth and cost our health, justice, political, and social systems. The hidden cost of low literacy in Canada is estimated at over $32 billion U.S.
A highly skilled workforce may not be the only contributor to economic growth in Canada, but it certainly plays a very large role. An investment in human capital—that is, in education and skills training—is three times as important to economic growth over the long term as investment in physical capital such as machinery and equipment. A 1% increase in literacy and essential skills in Canada would create a workforce that is 2.5% more productive and would increase Canada's GDP by 1.5%.
All levels of government would realize significant benefits from such an investment: for example, higher tax revenue, reduced income supports and payment of EI, social assistance, and workers' compensation, totalling over $2 billion per year, and reduced health expenditures, totalling $688 million per year.
An increasingly knowledge-based economy demands that our population grow and adapt to an evolving society. In Atlantic Canada, for example, because of the automation of traditional industries such as fisheries and aquaculture, forestry, and agriculture, employers are facing labour shortages as they attempt to hire and retain employees with the appropriate skills.
There are other populations of Atlantic Canadians, including first nations and immigrants, who are especially vulnerable to low literacy. Their needs must be met on an urgent basis, since these two groups will account for much of the growth in the labour force in the next few decades. It's also crucial to ensure that rural populations have access to literacy and essential skills supports.
There is clearly a need for literacy and essential skills services and supports in our country. In order to meet this need in Atlantic Canada, we must have the opportunity to leverage the strengths of our coalitions and community literacy organizations to grow supports for our residents. We are aligned with provincial and federal visions to form partnerships that will be more efficient and effective. We have the expertise to address the adverse impact that low literacy has on our communities, civic engagement, health, crime rates, and the economy. Each coalition plays a crucial role in our respective provinces and, by working together, we will strengthen our region as a whole.
As we collaborate to form the Atlantic partnership for literacy and essential skills, we are asking for funding from our federal government in the amount of $600,000 per year over four years. This funding will provide us with the stability we need to develop a collaborative approach with all stakeholders to ensure that quality and accessible programming is in place in our region.
This will enable Atlantic Canadians to have opportunities to participate fully at work, at home, and in their community. It will also sustain and grow our ability to identify needs and gaps in services and develop an effective strategy that responds to the needs of our communities, and to share knowledge and successful models of literacy, training, and supports in areas such as workforce development and also in the area of youth, early years, family, and adult literacy in our region, as well as other jurisdictions in Canada.
A minimum investment in literacy and essential skills will allow us to make a broader impact in the our region and to produce measurable outcomes that will have a positive and lasting impact on the lives of all Atlantic Canadians.
On behalf of the literacy coalitions in P.E.I., Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, I would like to once again thank you for the opportunity to share how, together, we can change lives and communities in Atlantic Canada by investing in literacy, essential skills, and lifelong learning.
