Canada ranks high in digital skills: OECD report - Toronto Star

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As the world's most advanced economies grapple with the challenges of globalization and technological change, Canadians are relatively well prepared to meet the demands of a rapidly changing workforce, a new report shows.

Canadians are not quite as advanced as the Japanese or the Finns on things like literacy and numeracy, the first annual Adult Skills report by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development found.

But Canada outscores Germany, the U.K. and the U.S., when it comes to the all important new age digital skills, the report to be released Tuesday found.

"This is a clear global advantage, at a time when the high-tech environment is becoming an ever more integral part of our everyday world," said Jeff Johnson, chair of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, one of the organizations that oversaw the collection of data in Canada.

The findings come amid a growing debate over whether Canada has a shortage of high-tech workers and an oversupply of low-skilled labour.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has declared Canada's skills shortage "the biggest challenge our country faces." His government's proposed Canada Job Grant, introduced in the 2013 federal budget, is built on the premise employers need help closing the gap. The provinces have yet to agree to co-fund the controversial program.

"I don't think this contradicts that," Johnson said in a telephone interview. "What it tells us is we're not in any worse shape than these other countries."

The landmark report was undertaken because of the growing importance of high-tech skills in the labour market, according to the authors the OECD Skills Outlook 2013.

The findings are based on a massive survey of 166,000 people in 24 countries, including 27,000 in Canada.

"It is no exaggeration to use the word "revolution" when talking about how our lives have changed over the past few decades. Today we rely on information and communication technologies and devices that hadn't even been imagined in 1980," the report says.

"The way we live and work has changed profoundly – and so has the set of skills we need to participate fully in and benefit from our hyper-connected societies and increasingly knowledge-based economies," the report says.

"Governments need a clear picture not only of how labour markets and economies are changing, but of the extent to which their citizens are equipping themselves with the skills demanded in the 21st century, since people with low skills proficiency face a much greater risk of economic disadvantage, a higher likelihood of unemployment, and poor health," the report says.

The findings have implications for countries, for society and for individuals, the report found. The most highly skilled workers, for example, earn 60 per cent more than the lowest skilled, while those with the lowest literacy skills are twice as likely to be jobless, study found.

A separate report on the U.S. found it had more the average number of low skilled workers, especially in the Black and Hispanic communities, and that their odds of being in poor health were four times greater than those with the highest skills.

The overall OECD report scored adults age 16 to 65 on three major criteria: literacy, numeracy and something it called "problem solving in technology-rich environments" – in effect, computer literacy.

The study found Finland and Japan had the highest share of top performers. One in five people could read at the highest level and were also good with numbers.

Italy and Spain scored at the lowest level. Only 1 in 20 adults could read at the highest level. Three in 10 scored at the lowest level for both reading and math.

Sweden and Finland scored highest on digital skills, based on tests that involved sorting email into folders, finding data in spreadsheets, and setting up a meeting using more than one application to manage scheduling conflicts.

Out of all 24 countries surveyed, Canadians ranked 7th in computer skills, 11th in literacy skills and 15th in numeracy skills. The latter finding didn't surprise the education minister.

"The provinces have got some work to do there," he said.

The country performed well despite having one of the highest immigrant populations in the survey whose mother tongue was not one of Canada's two official languages.

In fact, Canadian immigrants outperformed immigrants in most other countries, which partly reflects Canada's immigration criteria, which favours well-educated applicants.

However, the report also sounded alarm bells on the state of the least skilled adults across the developed world.

In most countries, including Canada, roughly 1 in 10 adults score at the bottom of the skills charts, the report found. They're able to follow simple instructions, fill out forms, and make change. But they have no experience with computers.

"In other words, significant numbers of adults do not possess the most basic information-processing skills considered necessary to succeed in today's world," the study found.

On an encouraging note, skills can be taught, the study said, noting that Korea's investment in its schools has led to higher literacy skills among younger adults than older adults.

In other countries, such as the U.S., there's been no change over the decades, the study found. "Young people in these countries are entering a much more demanding labour market, yet they are not much better prepared than those who are retiring," the report warns.

However, the least skilled are also the least likely to access training opportunities, the report found.

The study cautioned against cutting education and training budgets during economic downturns as that's often when new skills are needed most to generate economic growth.

The report also said education must be seen as a life-long endeavour that doesn't end at graduation. Everyone must play a role, including business, government and individuals, the report said.

"Employers can do a lot more to create a climate that supports learning, and invest in learning; some individuals can shoulder more of the financial burden; and governments can do a lot to design more rigorous standards, provide financial incentives, and create a safety net so that all people have access to high-quality education and training," the report concluded.

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