Website | Posted: May 23, 2013 |

Categories: Essential skills, Learning
This website has been created as a series of easy-to-use assessment tools to help adult learners improve their writing skills for use at home, in the community, and in the workplace. Developed by researchers at Bow Valley College as a follow-up to the adult reading assessment tool Read Forward, published in 2011, Write Forward features information and reflections about their research, thinking and development throughout the project.
Website | Posted: May 23, 2013 |

Categories: Essential skills, Learning
The Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers is a community agency that seeks to assist immigrants and refugees in achieving full participation in the community as well as contributing their experiences and skills to strengthening and enriching the lives of all Canadians. This vision is pursued through a wide range of programs and services that include English as a Second Language (ESL), employment services, settlement and personal counselling, community development, advocacy and education.
The federal government is seeking applications for projects that will help seniors use their leadership abilities, energy and skills to continue to make a difference in their communities through the New Horizons for Seniors Program. The deadline for applications is July 5, 2013, in all provinces and territories except Quebec, where the process will close on September 6, 2013, to coincide with a provincial call for proposals.
Headline News | Posted: May 23, 2013 |

Category: Essential skills
Perhaps because of the relentlessly bleak climate, many students now accept that their path to a stable lifestyle may involve years pin balling their way up the ranks with a mixture of interning, contract work and networking. As a result, they have been calling for more work experience – like internships or field work – to be built into their education.
Everyone needs to know where they’re going. David Scholz, chief marketing officer of Leger Marketing, a Canadian-owned research and strategic marketing firm, emphasizes why being clear is an important skill for leaders. “If no one is telling you, you’ll set your own direction; the result is 100 staff members going in 100 different directions.”
This video, prepared by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), focuses on a man who got a second chance at life after alcohol and drug addiction cost him everything.
The question of how much and how well children are learning in school is a concern for parents, students, employers, and the general public. The authors of this article look at three critical measures of success: student achievement in the core areas of language, mathematics and science; the disparity of student achievement among different socioeconomic groups; and high-school dropout rates.
Headline News | Posted: May 22, 2013 |

Category: Essential skills
The Trucking Human Resource Sector Council Atlantic is receiving over $640,000 to study literacy and essential skills levels among employees. The study will allow the industry to better assess the impact of literacy and essential skills on safety, productivity and employment patterns. From this study, a toolkit will be developed to help employers address essential skills challenges in the workplace.
This is the seventh part of a podcast series developed by the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills (OLES), part of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), to provide information about a research project that will help to update the numeracy element of the Essential Skills framework.
Located in a small community southwest of Montreal in Quebec, the Huntingdon Learning Centre is a nonprofit organization that offers workshops, in both French and English, in basic reading, writing and mathematics. It also offers courses in both English and French as a second language for newcomers to the area.
Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI), founded in 1986, is a nonprofit organization that helps low-income earners gain economic independence through financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and asset building.
This roadmap is designed to help adult literacy organizations make the best use of the technology they already have, and to plan for their future needs.
In this fact sheet, part of a series prepared by Literacy Newfoundland and Labrador, the authors point out that many adults lack adequate health literacy skills.
For post-secondary graduates receiving degrees and diplomas in the weeks ahead, excitement about completing their programs may be tempered by the grim job landscape for young people. Here are five ways job-seeking graduates can distinguish themselves in a competitive market.
Headline News | Posted: May 17, 2013 |

Category: Essential skills
“Economic development for the North is still the top priority among northern premiers. My colleagues and I discussed developing our northern Aboriginal workforce through skills and job training, as well as sustainable sources of energy for our growing economies.” - Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak
The Saskatchewan Employment Act (Bill 85) has passed third and final reading in the Legislative Assembly. The Act consolidates 12 pieces of labour legislation into one updated and comprehensive Act that protects workers, promotes growth and increases accountability.
Premier Kathleen Wynne visited the University of Ottawa recently where she announced new support that will help more francophone students study in French in the field of their choice. Starting in 2013-14, Ontario's francophone students who travel a minimum of 80 kilometres to attend full-time studies in French will qualify for the Ontario Distance Grant, no matter where they live in the province.
Headline News | Posted: May 17, 2013 |

Category: Essential skills
Through a new Lighthouses Program Partnership program in Nova Scotia, about 20 girls will participate in job training and other activities, which will help create friendships and build positive support networks. Some of the girls are helping to develop activities to meet the needs of the group.
A new trade certification program will help enterprising tradespeople in Atlantic Canada obtain all the tools they’ll need to succeed in business. The Atlantic Trades Business Seal Program was announced by Gail Shea, Minister of National Revenue and Minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), and Joan Shea, N.L. Minister of Advanced Education and Skills.
The legislation introduced in Manitoba would regulate all education providers that intend to recruit and enrol international students, enhancing the province's reputation as a destination of choice for study by students from around the world, Advanced Education and Literacy Minister Erin Selby has announced.
Headline News | Posted: May 17, 2013 |

Category: Essential skills
The provincial government has partnered with industry and the New Brunswick Teen Apprentice Program (NBTAP) to support an initiative that leads to early entry into the apprenticeship program. “This program is a great example of how our government is supporting the environment that matches the skilled labour requirements of employers with the training opportunities for our young people,” said Premier David Alward.