Adult Literacy and Life Skills Surveys: Public Use Microdata Files

Adult Literacy

Governments and other stakeholders are increasingly interested in assessing the skills of their adult populations in order to monitor how well prepared they are for the challenges of the modern knowledge-based society. Adults are expected to use information in complex ways and to maintain and enhance their literacy skills to adopt to ever changing technologies. Literacy is important not only for personal development, but also for positive educational, social, and economic outcomes.

Canada has been participating in adult skills assessment surveys for several decades. The surveys are repeated every ten years, with the first in the series taking place in 1994. First there was the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), then the International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALSS) in 2003 and the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) cycles 1 and 2 in 2012 and 2022 respectively. Each of these surveys builds on the concepts of the previous surveys. Over the years, the framework has broadened the definition of literacy to adapt it to the information age, notably by including reading skills in digital environments.

Adult literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills encompass a continuum of learning that enables individuals to achieve their goals, develop their knowledge and potential, and participate fully in their communities and society as a whole.

For more information about this survey (questionnaires, definitions, data sources and methods used): 
Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies

List of surveys:

• Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies 2022 (PIAAC) cycle 2
• Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies 2012 (PIAAC)
• International Adult Literacy Survey 2003 (IALSS) Canada
• Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey 2003-2006-2008 (ALL) International
• International Adult Literacy Skills Survey 1994 (IALS)

Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies 2022 (PIAAC) cycle 2

The Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is a multi-cycle international program and an initiative of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which aims to collect information on the competencies of adults in several countries, including Canada.

Cycle 2 of PIAAC surveyed a sample of the working-age adult population in their homes to continue to assess their literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills. These skills are viewed as essential or foundational in the sense that they are needed to function well at work and in society and to acquire more complex skills. The survey also collects information on the use of skills at work and at home and on a range of contextual factors, such as demographics and educational background, and economic and social outcomes, such as occupation, wages, and health. New socio-emotional skills will also be measured, in order to get a better understanding of individual attributes such as conscientiousness, open-mindedness and self-efficacy. As a result, the PIAAC survey constitutes a rich evidence base that helps policy makers identify areas where action may be needed to ensure that Canadians acquire and perfect the skills needed to participate successfully in the labour market and in society.

There is no Canadian PUMF 2022 available for this cycle. To access the international PIAAC 2022 PUMF, which includes the Canadian file, please visit the OECD website at the following address:

PIAAC 2^nd Cycle Database | OECD

Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies 2012 (PIAAC)

The public use microdata file (PUMF) from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) provides data on three skills that are essential to processing information: literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving in technology-rich environments (referred to as PS-TRE). Data are based on interviews with approximately 27,000 respondents, which allows for reliable estimation at the national, provincial and territorial level.

The file provides information about the literacy, numeracy and PS-TRE skills for the Canadian population aged 16 to 65. It provides results for Canada as a whole, as well as for all the provinces and territories. In addition, it provides skills proficiency information and a range of socio-demographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, level of education) across the entire Canadian population. It also provides information on the literacy, numeracy and PS-TRE skills of Aboriginal populations, immigrants, and official-language minority communities.

Twenty-four countries participated in Round 1 of the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), with data collection taking place from 1 August 2011 to 31 March 2012 in most countries. Nine countries took part in Round 2 of the assessment, with data collection taking place from April 2014 to end-March 2015. Six countries participated in Round 3, with data collection taking place from July to December 2017.

Reference period: 2012

For additional tools and a list of the countries that participated in each wave of data collection and their data, please consult the following link:

PIAAC | OECD

International Adult Literacy Survey 2003 (IALSS) Canada

The Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL) is a large-scale co-operative effort undertaken in 2003 by governments, national statistics agencies, research institutions and multi-lateral agencies. The ALL study builds on the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), the world's first internationally comparative survey of adult skills undertaken in three rounds of data collection between 1994 and 1998.

The foundation skills measured in the ALL survey include prose literacy, document literacy, numeracy, and problem solving. Additional skills assessed indirectly include familiarity with and use of information and communication technologies.

The development and management of the study were co-ordinated by Statistics Canada and the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in collaboration with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the United States Department of Education, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC) and the Institute for Statistics (UIS) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Reference period: 2003

Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey 2003-2006-2008 (ALL) International

The Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL) is a large-scale co-operative effort undertaken in 2003, 2006 and 2008 by governments, national statistics agencies, research institutions and multi-lateral agencies. The ALL study builds on the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), the world's first internationally comparative survey of adult skills undertaken in three rounds of data collection between 1994 and 1998.

The foundation skills measured in the ALL survey include prose literacy, document literacy, numeracy and problem solving. The literacy scale was also derived by combining the prose and schema scales to be comparable with the PEICA data. Additional skills assessed indirectly include familiarity with and use of information and communication technologies.

The development and management of the study were co-ordinated by Statistics Canada and the Educational Testing Service (ETS) in collaboration with the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the United States Department of Education, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC) and the Institute for Statistics (UIS) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

This dataset is composed of seven countries or regions that collected data in 2003. They include Bermuda, Canada, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, the United States and the Mexican State of Nuevo Leon. Additionally, data is included for three other countries that collected data in 2006 and 2008 which are Hungary, Netherlands, and New Zealand.

Reference period: 2003-2008

International Adult Literacy Skills Survey 1994 (IALS)

The International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) was a collaborative effort by twenty governments and three intergovernmental organizations. The countries of Australia, Belgium/Flanders, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland (French, German and Italian), United Kingdom, United States, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Norway, and Slovenia participated in the IALS.

1. The Canadian IALS survey had a number of objectives. These were:
   1. to provide an updated profile of adult literacy abilities for Canada for comparison to that provided by the 1989 Survey of Literacy Skills Used in Daily Activities (LSUDA);
   2. to provide sufficiently large numbers of Franco-Ontarians, seniors, social assistance recipients, unemployment insurance recipients and out-of-school youth to profile their skill levels;
   3. to shed light on the relationship between performance, educational attainment, labour market participation and employment for those at certain literacy levels; and
   4. to compare Canadian literacy levels with those in other countries.

Reference period: 1994-1996-1998

Start of text box

About PUMFs

Downloading a Public Use Microdata File (PUMF) allows you to conduct your own analysis. The microdata file is in CSV or TXT format.

The zip file contains the data file and the associated documentation such as user guides, codebooks, layout cards or syntax files.

PUMFs consist of sets of records containing information on individuals or households (microdata). They are non-aggregated data that are carefully modified, then reviewed to ensure that no individual or business is directly or indirectly identified.

PUMFs are microdata files that require specialized statistical software in order to read, manipulate, and analyze the dataset. The software is used to combine the microdata and metadata to create a file for analysis.

Statistics Canada Open Licence governs the use of PUMFs.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca).

End of text box