National Adult Literacy Database

ABC Life Literacy Canada and HSBC Bank Canada are working together to help Canadian families increase their literacy skills this year. HSBC Bank Canada is the 2013 and 2014 title sponsor of the HSBC Learning Activity Centre, in support of ABC Life Literacy Canada’s Family Literacy Day January 27.

Help Essential Skills Ontario staff continue their branding evolution by telling them how you feel they're doing. They want to know: "Does our brand align with the work we’re doing? What’s the impact of our new brand? Where can we go from here?"

Funding will be available for not-for-profit organizations, public-sector employers and small businesses to create high-quality summer job opportunities for young people from 15 to 30 years of age who are full-time students intending to return to their studies in the next school year.

Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI) has announced that the TD Financial Literacy Grant Fund has awarded $837,321 in grants to 12 community organizations engaged in financial literacy projects across Canada.

The National Adult Literacy Database (NALD) is beginning a new year with an updated Vision, Mission and Values/Guiding Principles. NALD staff, under the direction of CEO Bill Stirling, started the renewal process with the NALD Board of Directors, including the CEO, adding the finishing touches and formalizing the new guidelines and the NALD Value Proposition at a recent board meeting.

Canadians across the country have an opportunity to show appreciation for extraordinary volunteers in their communities. The call for nominations for the Prime Minister’s Volunteer Awards is open until March 1, 2013.

Ontario must act quickly to become more competitive and seize opportunities in the new global economy or its prosperity will decline, according to Advantage Ontario, the report of Ontario's Jobs and Prosperity Council. The report identifies five key areas for action: going global; driving productivity growth; unleashing innovation and entrepreneurship; capitalizing on strength in talent, and delivering smart, efficient government.

Ontario universities welcome a new report by the Jobs and Prosperity Council that calls for partnerships among government, the education and private sectors, and other stakeholders to play an integral part in improving Ontario's economic competitiveness.

Whether you’re a young person who recently graduated, just getting your career started or finally moving out on your own, it can be hard to keep track of your personal finances. Some of the biggest mistakes are also the most common and can seriously cost you in the long term. Here are the top 10, along with some tips on how to avoid them.

"Things are moving extremely quickly in analytics, social business, smarter commerce and security,” says Les Rechan, general manager of business analytics at IBM. “What we’ve found here … is that technology becomes the Number 1 challenge for CEOs.”

Following little change in October, employment rose by 59,000 in November, the result of an increase in full-time work. The unemployment rate declined 0.2 percentage points to 7.2 per cent.

Over the past few years Canadian Literacy and Learning Network (CLLN) has undergone a number of changes. One of the most recent changes has been the transition from a representational board to a skills-based board. CLLN is currently seeking applicants for one of 10 board positions.

The purpose of the State of the Literacy and Essential Skills Field report is to provide an overview of Literacy and Essential Skills across Canada from the unique perspective of CLLN and its national network partners, the provincial and territorial literacy coalitions. This is the first national environmental scan to be conducted by CLLN and as such it will inform the direction of future scans and will be the basis of further work to show how the Literacy and Essential Skills field is responding to trends.

"Whether Canadians with sight loss need information about education, interview techniques, or workplace accommodation, access to employment resources for people who are blind or partially sighted will ensure meaningful employment in a wide range of fields for years to come," says Penny Hartin, Chief Executive Officer of the World Blind Union.

"The Mentoring Partnership has made over 7,000 mentoring matches and has proven to be a successful strategy to help skilled immigrants find meaningful employment," says Margaret Eaton, Executive Director, Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council. "TD is a corporate leader in mentoring skilled immigrants and using that experience to build the cultural competency of its employees and strengthen the inclusiveness of the workplace."