The decade long plan to transform New Brunswick into a national leader in public education has officially failed.

According to a recent report from CBC News, student test scores have plummeted to last place in Canada.

High School Students Fall Behind

If you have children in the provincial school system, these results demand your attention. The Programme for International Student Assessment released its 2025 testing data last week. The results show 15 year old students in New Brunswick high schools finished last among all provinces in science, math, and reading.

Students scored between 34 and 36 points below the Canadian average in each subject. Back in 2015, before the government launched this initiative, New Brunswick students ranked seventh.

Louis Volante is a professor at Brock University who researches international achievement testing. He notes a 20 point spread between jurisdictions equals one full grade level of difference in student achievement. Volante states the 51 point gap between New Brunswick and Quebec means the average 15 year old student in New Brunswick is two and a half grade levels behind their peers in Quebec.

Younger Students Miss Targets

The problem extends beyond high schools. New Brunswick Auditor General Paul Martin reviewed elementary and middle school literacy scores in June. He compared the results against the targets set in the 2016 education plan.

Martin found the province failed to meet a single literacy target in any year of the audit period for any assessment.

Education consultant Paul Bennett predicted the plan would fail back in 2016. He calls the current situation a protracted crisis.

“New Brunswickers have every right to be concerned,” Bennett said. “In every recent assessment, New Brunswick students perform at the bottom of this country and it is getting worse and the spread is growing.”

Government Lowers Expectations

The provincial government announced two new 12 year education plans for the French and English school systems this spring. Instead of improving the system to meet previous goals, the government decided to lower student achievement targets.

The province dropped the expected reading level target for Grade 4 students in the anglophone system from 90 percent to 56 percent.

Education Minister Claire Johnson acknowledged this change makes it easier to claim success.

“So the target was 90 percent, but we missed those targets,” Johnson said. “We missed them again and again and again and again and again, and what we wanted to avoid this time around was to have too much time passing without us meeting targets.”

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the goal of the 2016 education plan?

The provincial government launched the 10 year plan in September 2016 to raise student test scores above the national average and create a leading public education system by 2026.

How do New Brunswick students rank nationally now?

Recent assessments show New Brunswick 15 year olds rank last among all Canadian provinces in science, math, and reading.

How far behind are New Brunswick students compared to other provinces?

Experts state the average 15 year old student in New Brunswick is roughly two and a half grade levels behind their peers in top performing provinces like Quebec.

What is the government doing to fix the issue?

The province introduced new 12 year education plans this spring. These new plans significantly lower the achievement targets for students to make the goals easier to reach.