Before the Assessment

Thank you for participating in the Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP).

What is PCAP?

In 2003, the provincial and territorial ministers of education, through the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), agreed to develop the Pan-Canadian Assessment Program. This program assesses, at regular intervals, the knowledge and skills of Grade 8/Secondary II students across Canada in the core subjects of reading, mathematics, and science. PCAP provides an excellent opportunity to show the education community, as well as the general public, the efficacy of our education systems with regard to learning in these subject areas.

PCAP 2027

PCAP 2027 will focus on reading (with fewer questions in mathematics and science). In preparation, in spring 2026, field testing of the new reading items will be carried out across Canada to ensure the validity of PCAP 2027.

A sample of schools has been randomly selected to participate in PCAP from March 30 to May 1, 2026. In each selected school, at least one Grade 8/Secondary II class will be selected to participate in the assessment.

In this field test, participating students will complete a 90-minute reading assessment and a 30-minute questionnaire on students’ learning environment. Additionally, the Language Arts teacher(s) of the selected class(es) will be asked to complete a Teacher Questionnaire, and the school principal or representative will be asked to complete a School Questionnaire.

Please note that the assessment is not in any way an effort to evaluate the performance of individual students, teachers, or school principals. No data will be published that will enable individual students, teachers, schools, or school boards/districts to be identified. CMEC publishes PCAP results at only a pan-Canadian and provincial level, including, where possible, results for both official language groups. The data that the schools are being asked to collect will enable us to monitor education systems and provide policy-relevant information without revealing the identity of the respondents.

 

Click here for more information regarding the PCAP assessment content, framework, and results from past cycles.