Canadian students recorded historically low results in science, reading, and math on a recently released international evaluation, yet they still rank among the 10 highest performers out of the 91 countries and economies tested.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) latest study assessed the math, reading, and science knowledge and skills of 24,600 15-year-old students from nearly 900 schools across all 10 provinces last year.
The results of the Programme for International Student Assessment—better known as the PISA test—revealed that Canadian students scored ninth overall in science, 11th in math, and 12th in reading.
Despite making the top 15 in all three subjects, the new data confirms Canada’s 2025 PISA scores have dropped drastically from their historical peaks.
The Canadian Council of Ministers of Education lauded Canada’s performance compared to other countries but expressed concern about scores falling over time.
“Comparative results over time emphasize the imperative for ongoing attention to educational outcomes,” the intergovernmental body made up of Canada’s provincial and territorial ministers said in a press release.
“Although Canadian scores across the three domains of science, reading, and mathematics remain high compared to those of other participating countries and economies, there has been a gradual long-term decline in scores in all three domains over time.”
Math
Canada ranked 11th in math, above countries like the United States, Australia, and Germany, but despite faring well internationally, students’ scores are declining over time. The math score for 2025 fell by 12 points since 2022, and by 47 points since 2003.
The most recent data revealed that 74 percent of Canadian students were at Level 2 or above in mathematics, in contrast to more than 85 percent of students from China, Singapore, Japan, Estonia, and Korea, who performed at or above that level.
Also on the decline are the number of students performing at a high level. The PISA assessment measures student performance across six core proficiency levels—Level 1 to Level 6.
Twenty-six percent of Canadian students tested in math scored below Level 2 compared to 10.1 percent of students in 2003. Level 2 is the baseline proficiency level identified by the OECD as necessary for full and productive participation in society.
Only 11.1 percent are reaching a Level 5 or 6 in math today compared to the 20.3 percent of students who reached that benchmark in 2003.
The C.D. Howe Institute said the declining math scores of Canadian students could have major consequences for “Canada’s future talent pipeline.”
“STEM readiness – which we define as scoring at a minimum 544.7 points in the mathematics PISA test or being proficient at least at Level 4 – has moved from a near-majority standard for Canadian 15-year-olds in 2009 to one met by only one-quarter of 15-year-olds in 2025,” the think tank said in an analysis of the math results.
“If the difference between the share of 15-year-olds reaching Level 4 or higher in 2009 and 2025 is applied to the 2025 population of 15-year-olds, the results imply that about 66,000 fewer young people per year are ready for post-secondary STEM study.”
Reading
Canada placed 12th overall for reading skills but, like math, these scores have dipped drastically over the past quarter-century. Canadian students’ average reading score has fallen by 17 points since 2022, and by 44 points since the year 2000.
Only 9.4 percent of students achieved Level 5 or 6 proficiency in reading in 2025, down from 12.6 percent in 2003.
In PISA terms, Levels 5 and 6 represents students who are not only skilled readers but also adept at assessing the credibility of sources, analyzing complex information presented in various unfamiliar formats or conflicting perspectives, and developing hypotheses.
The decline in top-tier readers is only part of Canada’s literacy challenge. The PISA 2025 report also found a notable increase in the share of students performing at the lowest levels of reading proficiency.
The number of Canadian students failing to achieve a basic proficiency standard of Level 2 in reading has more than doubled over the past two decades, jumping from 9.5 percent in 2003 to 21.8 percent in 2025.
Once again, Canadian students were out-performed by those in China, Singapore, Japan, Estonia, and Korea, as well as the United Kingdom, and tied with the United States.
Science
Science was Canada’s strongest of the three core subjects. Eighty-four percent of Canadian students attained proficiency at or above Level 2 in science, well above the OECD average of 74 percent.
Despite cracking the top 10 in science, Canadian students scored five points lower than they did in 2022, and 24 points below Canada’s peak score, recorded in 2006.
There were also more students failing to meet a Level 2 standard in the latest assessment. Approximately 16 percent of students scored below Level 2, in contrast to 10 percent in 2006, the first year for which data is available.
Gender and Provincial Gaps
Scores across the three subjects differed from province to province, as well as between the two genders.
Alberta, Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec scored higher in science than the other provinces.
Alberta excelled in reading scores as well, recording the highest percentage of students reaching Levels 5 or 6, at 12.3 percent. New Brunswick was at the other end of the spectrum, with 5.1 percent.
New Brunswick recorded the highest number of students performing below Level 2 in reading, at 33 percent, while Ontario had the lowest percentage, at 20.9 percent.
Significant differences in science performance were observed across Canada based on gender.
Girls outperformed boys in reading both in Canada and on average across OECD countries but boys performed better in both math and science.
The data also showed that students in Canada enrolled in majority-language school systems achieved better results than those in minority-language school systems.
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