Pandemic Learning Loss in Canada: Student Performance Before, During, and After COVID-19

Novembre 2026 

Established by the President of the Royal Society of Canada in April 2020, the RSC Task Force on COVID-19 was mandated to provide evidence-informed perspectives on major societal challenges in response to and recovery from COVID-19. 

The Task Force established a series of Working Groups to rapidly develop Policy Briefings, with the objective of supporting policy makers with evidence to inform their decisions. 

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Overview of "Pandemic Learning Loss in Canada: Student Performance Before, During, and After COVID-19"
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted schooling across Canada. The Pandemic Learning Loss in Canada report examines how student achievement changed following the onset of the pandemic and whether those changes differed by subject, grade, student characteristics, and geographic location. Specifically, the report brings together 15 studies examining these interconnected issues: 13 studies assessing changes in student achievement across 11 provinces and territories using data obtained from ministries of education, a meta-analysis synthesizing findings from 20 Canadian studies, and a study examining factors associated with school closures in Ontario, which experienced Canada’s longest closures and prolonged interruptions to in-person schooling by international standards.
 
Authors

Patrick Charland, Université du Québec à Montréal

Sylvana Coté, FRSC, Université de Montréal

Scott Davies, University of Toronto

S. Helene Deacon, RSC College, Dalhousie University

George Georgiou, RSC College, University of Alberta

Guofang Li, The University of British Columbia

Tess Miller, University of Prince Edward Island

Amin Mousavi, University of Saskatchewan

Robert Renaud, University of Manitoba

Jeanne Sinclair, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Prachi Srivastava, Adelaide University

Tracy Vaillancourt, FRSC (Chair), University of Ottawa