The Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP) is administered every 3 years to a representative sample of grade 8 English, French immersion, and French first language students. While each administration includes reading, math, and science, the major domain changes with each assessment. The major domain in 2016 was reading, in 2013 it was science, and in 2010 mathematics was the major domain. The PCAP complements existing assessments in each province and territory. It provides information about whether grade 8 students across Canada reach similar levels of performance in reading, mathematics, and science. Accompanying PCAP questionnaires for students, teachers, and schools provide jurisdictions with contextual information that contributes to the interpretation of the performance results and an understanding of the factors that influence learning. The results of the 2016 PCAP administration are available at cmec.ca.
The next administration of PCAP will be in 2023 and the major area of focus will be science.