National Adult Literacy Database

ABC Life Literacy Canada would like to help employers build a better skilled, more resilient and effective workforce. If you are the company owner, general manager or HR manager, the organization would appreciate your completing this survey.

The Welsh Baccalaureate qualification, known as the Welsh Bacc, teaches a core of subjects such as math and languages and gives students the chance for work experience. Rebecca Williams, policy officer at Wales' teaching union UCAC, described the Welsh Bacc as a positive, saying it "combines the academic subjects with more real world type skills."

Alberta has the highest job vacancy rate in the country, according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, and that is translating into close to 55,000 unfilled private sector jobs.

Making life better for Nova Scotians with disabilities is the goal of an upcoming symposium in Halifax. The 5th Annual Symposium on Inclusive Education and Employment, on Monday, Dec. 3, and Tuesday, Dec. 4, focuses on challenges and opportunities persons with disabilities face in the workplace and with education.

November 18-25, 2012, is Multiculturalism Week in B.C. If you’re interested in multiculturalism, or want to know more about working with learners from diverse backgrounds, check out some of the resources in the Decoda Literacy Solutions library.

When analyzing the size of pay raises, the TribeHR Pay Raise Index found that men were three times more likely to earn a salary increase in excess of 25 percent. Looking at pay raises of 5 percent or more, 60 percent went to men and just 38 percent to women.

Nova Scotia is now able to attract more skilled workers to help meet the growing needs of businesses and industries thanks to the federal government's giving the province an additional 200 immigration nominees, on top of the existing cap of 500.

With an investment of $2 million, the Newfoundland and Labrador government is inviting companies and individuals to apply for the Journeyperson Mentorship Program, an industry-supported initiative that will increase the retention rates, skills and technical knowledge of apprentices.

The people who built Alberta lecture series takes place November 14, 21 and 28 at the archives. The final two lectures will be headed by author and editor Alvin Finkel, professor of Canadian history at Athabasca University, and will feature contributors to Working People in Alberta: A History, a new book published by Athabasca University Press.

The National Reading Plan addresses ways to ensure that each of us — regardless of age, background, income level, level of education, or location — has access to reading of all kinds and in all platforms. The National Reading Campaign, launched November 12, begins the work of putting this exciting and challenging plan into place from coast to coast.

As Canada's labour markets continue to recover from the 2008-2009 recession, the percentage of unfilled private sector jobs increased slightly from 2.3 per cent in the second quarter to 2.4 per cent in the July-to-September period, according to data compiled by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

"The thing I find most satisfying and what I love about HR and it might sound a little corny," Derek Rolstone says, "is you really get an opportunity to affect people's lives in term of making employees' lives better and finding ways to make managers' lives better."

The Government of Canada needs the co-operation of regulators to help trained newcomers find meaningful work in Canada, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said recently. "Attracting and retaining the best international talent to fill skills shortages in key occupations is critical to Canada's economic success. Our regulatory partners are vital to ensuring newcomers can start working in their fields faster."

Ten years ago, allowing employees the flexibility to work remotely was more the exception than the rule. The image of the teleworker was bleak: Managers envisioned a person watching TV at home, or juggling children and household chores while catching a phone call in between. But attitudes have changed rather dramatically in recent years, says Kate Lister, president of telework consulting company Global Workplace Analytics in Carlsbad, Calif.

The eMentoring program is geared to aboriginal youth in grades 6 through 12. Those who participate get matched with a UBC health-sciences student (who could be studying anything from nursing to physical therapy), and from there they connect via an online platform that allows for safe, secure discussions and semi-structured activities.