This report brings together information presented in Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) publications over the five-year period ending in 2010.

The authors note that on the surface, Canada is doing well as a society of lifelong learners but a closer look reveals many signs of emerging weakness that threaten the country’s continued prosperity. Chief among them are the lack of a coherent vision and an action plan for a lifelong learning system; the absence of shared national indicators of progress in early childhood learning; the large proportion of Canadian adults with low literacy skills; and gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal youth when it comes to completing high school and post-secondary education.

The authors call upon Canada’s political leaders to turn rhetoric about lifelong learning into a plan for action.