National Adult Literacy Database

A new report from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce says Canada must upgrade the skills of its domestic workforce, including the essential skills that are critical for improved training outcomes and productivity growth.

Titled Closing the Skills Gap: Mapping a Path for Small Business, the report includes guidelines suggested by participants at the Symposium on Skills and Small Business held in Toronto in November 2012.

Attendees included owners and managers of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from seven provinces and stakeholders from government, academia and the learning and training communities.

“The recommendations stemming from the symposium give the Canadian Chamber of Commerce a focus for our advocacy on behalf of small businesses as they address their training needs,” said Perrin Beatty, President and CEO.

Some key recommendations:

• Providing small businesses with a clear route into the world of skills development through relevant guidance and tools, in clear and simple language, housed in one area
• Helping to reduce complexity for small businesses in order to free up more time to invest in skills development
• Designing courses around demand linked to real challenges faced by businesses in certain sectors and finding ways to reduce costs of implementation; and
• Motivating employees and companies by showing them the benefits of training and demonstrating the return on investment from developing skills

The authors have also provided a skills development roadmap that includes examples of best practices for each of the recommendations.  For instance, one tool that helps clarify the process of developing training programs is a checklist offered by the Canada/Manitoba Business Service Centre, a federal-provincial initiative.

A supplement to the report on the symposium, titled Toolkit of Training Resources for Small- and Medium-sized Businesses, was created to highlight various training resources available to SMEs in Canada.

The symposium project was made possible by funding from the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills (OLES), Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.

NALD contact:

Christy English
Editor/Stakeholder Liaison
Tel: 506-462-5034 or toll-free: 1-800-720-6253
Email: christy.english@nald.ca