National Adult Literacy Database

With an original target of helping 148 people gain employment, the ASEP grant applied to mine training association activities in the Thompson Okanagan and Nechako regions of British Columbia. The development of additional partnerships with industry associations, educational institutions, individual companies and First Nations has widened the scope of the programs.

Stephen Shapiro in his book 'Best Practices Are Stupid: 40 Ways to Out-Innovate the Competition' says asking for ideas tends to create more time-consuming clutter than strategies to move the business forward.

The report examines the number of NALD Library documents, in both English and French, which are viewed and downloaded by visitors to the websites NALD and BDAA.

Canadian magazine readers remain loyal to the print versions of their favorite titles, with fewer than one in 10 newsstand customers - and one in 20 women readers - having purchased an e-edition in the past year, according to a national survey. The online survey carried out in January identified women readers and residents of Quebec as having the strongest preference for print format magazines.

New Brunswick supports the ongoing efforts of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO to promote International Adult Learners' Week and also Canada's commitment to promoting education and adult literacy for sustainable development.

Four Inuvik residents were honoured at a Community Feast during the PGI (Peter Gzowski Invitational) for Literacy in Inuvik recently.

Even for those who are not out of work, learning new skills or brushing up old ones is always beneficial. Several experts said classes that offer certifications are particularly helpful.

Seven short videos from the former Adult Learning Knowledge Centre website illustrate the power of adult learning. Each provides a story on how adult learning has positively affected communities, individual learners and professional/community-based organizations.

The new executive director of AlphaPlus is enthusiastic about the integration of technology in the information management process, and is looking forward to applying his extensive experience and skills to AlphaPlus and the adult literacy sector.

“We cannot hope to have a skilled workforce and a strong economy when 43 per cent of the population does not have basic literacy and essential skills,” said Lindsay Kennedy, president and CEO of CLLN. “Skills development is a vital part of Canada’s economic strength and a national literacy and essential skills strategy must be the foundation for a productive workforce.”

In the just-released The Great Employee Handbook: Making Work and Life Better, author Quint Studer makes clear that high-level leaders value certain skills in the people who work for them - and those skills may not be what you'd expect.

"The ITW resource kit will be of huge help in terms of navigating the processes with hiring international workers," says Lynn Meloney, Project Chair and HR Specialist at Emera Utility Services. "With so much growth in this industry it is important to reach out to skilled workers all over the world. This kit is a resource for both industry and workers as well and contains a collection of tried and tested ideas and resources from industry across Canada."

Adult learning in Canada and around the world since the Second World War owes a great deal to a handful of Canadians who continue to provide leadership today. Although adult education has been practised in Canada since the early 19th century, it wasn’t until after the war that it developed its own formal field of study.

"Over the past decade, BDC's E-Spirit competition has tapped into the entrepreneurial spirit of Aboriginal students and equipped them with the tools and resources needed to develop a business," said Wilson Neapew, national director, Aboriginal Banking Unit, at BDC. "Whether it's to develop solutions that benefit their local communities or even consider a business degree for the first time, students who participate in E-Spirit will always benefit from this new set of entrepreneurial skills."

As labour minister, Lisa Raitt is responsible for upholding the Labour Code in federally regulated workplaces in regard to industrial relations, health and safety, labour standards, and the Employment Equity Act. "Each and every one of us has a role to play in creating workplaces where diversity and special needs are accommodated and respected.”