Francophones lag behind anglophones in literacy: StatsCan

New Brunswick is the only province wherefrancophones continue tosignificantly lagbehind their English-speaking counterparts on literacy tests, according to a new Statistics Canada study.

"All the gaps that were observed in the past surveys let's say between the English- and French-speaking populations throughout the country have almost disappeared except for francophonesin New Brunswick," saidJean-Pierre Corbeil,chief specialist for language and immigration statistics at Statistics Canada.

A decade ago, aStatistics Canada study using thePIAACresults from 2003showed 56 per cent of New Brunswickfrancophonesdidn't have functionalliteracyskill.

But Corbeil said the methodology has slightly changed and francophones'literacy level has not deteriorated.

He also saidthe french-english literacy gap has slightly narrowed since the 2006 study.

The latest study, entitled The Literacy Skills of New Brunswick francophones,was releasedMonday and based onPIAACtest resultsfrom 2012 and the 2011 National Household Survey.

As for a national comparison, New Brunswick francophones on averagescored 10 points lower on the test thanfrancophones in other parts of the country.

'We have to invest more in education'

Thekey to improving adult literacy is investing more in education, according to thegroup representing francophone teachers.

Marc Arseneau, president ofl'Associationdes enseignants francophones duNouveau-Brunswick, said literacy rates among francophone students are improving, which will boost adult literacy rates in the coming years.

But in the meantime, more resources for teachers should be the focus.

"We have to invest more in education, so the teachers have more help in the classroom to work with kids," said Arseneau.

"Forinstance when some kids get in class in an early age they don't even speak the language if they're from a family where there's one englishand one french-speaking, so we have to work on that at the beginning of the classroom."

Why the literacy lag?

The study outlines anumber of reasons, including:

• Declining industrial sector: Francophones represented more than 40 per cent of the labour force in declining industrial sectors, where they're less likely to useor improve literacy skills.
• Lower level of education: 31 per cent offrancophonesin New Brunswickdon't have a certificate, diploma or degree, compared to 18 per cent ofanglophones.
• Aging population:New Brunswick'sfrancophonepopulationis older than the anglophone community. Low literacy in the test results increasedwith age.
• Young francophonesleaving:New Brunswick had a net loss of6,000francophoneswho held at least a bachelor's degree in 2011.

The gaps in literacy among anglophones and francophoneshave decreased in other areas of Canada because of increased education levels, saidCorbeil.

Regionally, francophonesin northern New Brunswickhad the worst scores on the test, falling 13 to 16 points belowfrancophones' scores in the rest of the province.