INTRODUCTION

During the fall of 2007, Movement for Canadian Literacy (MCL) conducted an environmental scan of the Anglophone literacy field in Canada. Data was gather through the use of key informant interviews (19) and a literature review. A crossnational working group guided the development of the scan.

The Need for an Environmental Scan

The intent of the environmental scan of the literacy field or sector was to set the stage for a larger study of the sector. The need to conduct a scan prior to the study was necessary because much of the knowledge about literacy work in Canada is informal and anecdotal. There is very little research that provides a comprehensive picture of the literacy field suitable to our purposes.

For the scan, the term “literacy sector” included organizations and people who do the work in the sector. Specifically:

• Managers, coordinators, and instructors who do paid work
• People who work as volunteers in the sector
• National non-profit literacy organizations, umbrella agencies such as provincial coalitions, provincial and regional networks, and local agencies that deliver literacy programming
• Organizations that are trying to integrate literacy into the work they do, including labour organizations, employer associations and other nonprofit organizations
• Practitioners, instructors, and other organizations that work with employers and unions to deliver workplace literacy programs
• Settlement agencies and other organizations that offer literacy programming specifically to immigrants and refugees.

The environmental scan has allowed us to determine that knowledge gaps exist in a number of key areas.