Average IQ in Canada
The average IQ in Canada is estimated at 100, level with the UK, in the most-cited national IQ dataset (Lynn and Vanhanen, 2012). Its figure that also folds in school results is 100.4.
The average IQ in Canada is about 100. What's yours?
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- 485
- PISA 2025 maths (OECD 463)
- 490
- PISA 2025 reading (OECD 461)
- 510
- PISA 2025 science (OECD 482)
- 271
- Adult numeracy, 2023 (OECD 263)
Canadian 15-year-olds score above the OECD average in PISA, and Canadian adults score above it in the 2023 Survey of Adult Skills.
Where the figure comes from
Lynn and Vanhanen put Canada at 100 from IQ test data, on a scale where British norms equal 100, and at 100.4 once school achievement results are included. Canadian psychologists generally use tests with Canadian or US norms, on which the average is 100 by definition.
These compilations are criticised for mixing tests, years and samples, so a figure within a point or two of 100 is best read as "about average among wealthy countries".
| Country | Measured IQ | Final IQ |
|---|---|---|
| UK | 100 | 99.1 |
| US | 98 | 97.5 |
| Canada | 100 | 100.4 |
| Australia | 98 | 99.2 |
| Finland | 97 | 100.9 |
Lynn and Vanhanen (2012), Table 2.1. Measured IQ uses IQ test results only; final IQ also folds in school achievement. Scale: UK norms = 100.
Canada in PISA 2025: what 15-year-olds can do
PISA tests 15-year-olds in maths, reading and science. It is not an IQ test, but it is the most current international comparison. In PISA 2025 Canadian students scored well above the OECD average in all three subjects, although maths fell from 497 in 2022 to 485. The OECD flags that Canada did not fully meet PISA's sampling standards.
| Country | Maths | Reading | Science |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | 488−1 | 494 | 511 |
| US | 463−2 | 490 | 502 |
| Canada | 485−12 | 490 | 510 |
| Australia | 478−9 | 491 | 509 |
| Finland | 469−15 | 474 | 504 |
| OECD | 463−9 | 461 | 482 |
PISA 2025 mean scores. The small figure under maths is the change since PISA 2022. The OECD flags that the US and Canada did not fully meet its 2025 sampling standards. Source: OECD (2026), PISA 2025 Results, Volume I, Table I.1.
Adult skills: the OECD Survey of Adult Skills
The OECD Survey of Adult Skills tests adults aged 16 to 65. In the 2023 round, Canadian adults scored above the OECD average in literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem solving.
| Country | Literacy | Numeracy | Solving |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finland | 296 | 294 | 276 |
| England | 272 | 268 | 259 |
| Canada | 271 | 271 | 259 |
| US | 258 | 249 | 247 |
| OECD | 260 | 263 | 251 |
Survey of Adult Skills 2023 (PIAAC cycle 2), mean scores for adults aged 16 to 65. Solving is adaptive problem solving. Source: OECD (2024), Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive?
Is the average IQ in Canada rising or falling?
We found no recent Canadian study of IQ score trends that we could verify, so we do not claim a direction. Across wealthy countries, scores rose by about 3 points a decade for most of the 20th century (Flynn, 1987), and several countries have since seen plateaus or declines.
School data are clearer. Canada's PISA maths average fell from 497 in 2022 to 485 in 2025, and reading from 507 to 490, while science held steady. PISA measures schooling as well as reasoning, so this is not an IQ trend.
Why national IQ figures are contested
Different tests
National figures combine different instruments, such as Raven's matrices, Wechsler scales and school assessments like PISA, taken in different years and converted to one scale. The 100 for Canada inherits every step of that conversion.Sampling
Some national estimates rest on small or unrepresentative samples, such as one city, school or age group. Reviews such as Wicherts, Dolan and van der Maas (2010) found that sample choices can move a country figure by many points.Education and health
Scores rise with years of schooling, nutrition, health care and familiarity with timed tests, so a national average partly measures those conditions rather than a fixed trait.The Flynn effect
Raw scores on many tests rose by roughly 3 points a decade during the 20th century (Flynn, 1987), and some countries have since seen plateaus or declines. The year a sample was tested changes the number.Not about individuals or ethnicity
The spread of scores inside Canada, as in any country, is far wider than the gap between countries. A national estimate says nothing about any person, and it is not evidence about ethnicity or genetics.
Average IQ in Canada: questions people ask
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Put your own number next to Canada's estimate of 100.
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Sources
- Lynn, R., & Vanhanen, T. (2012). Intelligence: A Unifying Construct for the Social Sciences. Ulster Institute for Social Research (Table 2.1).
- OECD (2026). PISA 2025 Results, Volume I (Table I.1).
- OECD (2023). PISA 2022 Results, Volume I: The State of Learning and Equity in Education.
- OECD (2024). Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive in a Changing World? Survey of Adult Skills 2023.
- Flynn, J. R. (1987). Massive IQ gains in 14 nations: What IQ tests really measure. Psychological Bulletin, 101(2), 171-191.
- Wicherts, J. M., Dolan, C. V., & van der Maas, H. L. J. (2010). A systematic literature review of the average IQ of sub-Saharan Africans. Intelligence, 38(1), 1-20.
- Sear, R. (2022). "National IQ" datasets do not provide accurate, unbiased or comparable measures of cognitive ability worldwide. PsyArXiv.
Reviewed October 2026 by the LifeScore Editorial Team. Country averages say nothing about any individual.