Canadian communities are getting smarter by offering their residents more opportunities to learn, a new report released Wednesday suggests.

The Canadian Council of Learning put out its third annual composite learning index — touted as the world's only such survey and Canada's only nationwide measure of education throughout life.

After three years of gathering data, the 2008 index provides a glimpse at possible trends across the country by analyzing lifelong learning in 4,700 communities. The index takes a broad look at education at school, home, work and in the community.

"It's not a measure of intelligence," said Jarrett Laughlin, senior research analyst with the council. "It more speaks to the learning opportunities … that communities provide for their citizens."

According to the report, Canada's overall score in 2008 rose to 77 points in 2008, one point up from the previous year and four from the first rating in 2006.

Council president and CEO Paul Cappon says it's "reassuring" that Canada has seen its performance improve across the country, with an average rise of 1.9 points a year. He also notes that the improvements in rural areas are almost on par with that of cities.

Quebec, Atlantic Canada cities most improved

Cities rating the highest in the index were Victoria, B.C., and Ottawa, both with 93, well above the national city average of 80. The lowest rate was 62 for Saguenay, Que.

But when it came to improvement for cities, Quebec and Atlantic Canada fared the best.

The majority of the 10 most-improved cities were located east of Ontario, with St John's, N.L., topping the list with a 9.3-point improvement.

The report cites Laval, Que., the fourth-most improved city, as an example of how one community improved its rating.

Part of it was thanks to a new choral festival that set up shop in the city, leading to an increase in the number of people spending money on live performing arts.

But the rise in the city's rating was also helped by an increase in the number of homes spending on broadband internet services and more employers offering training to their workers.

Learning issues often lost in shuffle

Examples of conditions that led to high scores for communities could include access to cultural activities or the ability to participate in clubs and associations, says Laughlin.

Too often, issues such as road maintenance and taxes dominate debate in municipal governments, and it is easy to forget the impact of investing in social measures, he said.

But he said this index provides a way for communities to track and measure their progress.

Until the creation of the index three years ago, there was no way of assessing learning across Canada.

"We always had very different ways that the provinces measured their performance," said Laughlin, adding that the surveys often lacked a national focus and rarely looked at learning outside the classroom.

The council hopes its composite learning index catches on around the world. It is currently working with European organizations interested in trying to apply it to their countries.