National Adult Literacy Database

In 2009, 80% of Canadians aged 16 and older, or 21.7 million people, used the Internet for personal reasons, up from 73% in 2007 when the survey was last conducted.

TORONTO, Ontario, May 9, 2010 — The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Industry, today announced the first series of projects to receive conditional funding approval under the Broadband Canada: Connecting Rural Canadians program.

Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, has invited the Organization’s Member States to submit two nominations for the 2010 UNESCO International Literacy Prizes. These prizes are awarded in recognition of innovative and successful results in the field of literacy throughout the world.

Canada Post announced today that nominations for the 18th annual Canada Post Community Literacy Awards are now open. These awards recognize the achievements of Canadians who made important contributions to literacy in this country.

OTTAWA, May 3 /CNW Telbec/ - May is Speech and Hearing Awareness Month. Many of us take our abilities to hear and speak for granted but as Hosea Ballou said, "every word spoken within the hearing of little children tends towards the formation of character."

What is it? An awareness and fundraising day for schools and businesses. Participants donate a toonie and wear their loudest, wildest, wackiest shirts, ties, or other clothing.

OTTAWA, April 27 /CNW Telbec/ - More than 190 enterprising Aboriginal youths from across Canada will visit the University of Ottawa next month to attend the tenth edition of the E-Spirit National Aboriginal Youth Business Plan Competition gathering. The E-Spirit competition is organized by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC).

Thomas King and Tomson Highway, acclaimed Canadian Aboriginal authors, will address the Cultivating Connections National Family Literacy Conference being presented by the Centre for Family Literacy in Edmonton, Alberta, July 15-17, 2010. Thomas King’s topic is “Stories Do Create a World” and Tomson Highway will speak on “How Literacy Can Make for a Healthy, Functional Family.” Register for banquet tickets to hear Thomas King or for the full conference.

The Task Force on Financial Literacy begins its cross-Canada public consultations today in Vancouver, British Columbia and simultaneously in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. The sessions will feature presentations by groups and individuals representing a cross section of Canadian society, including the private, public and voluntary sectors.

The 2009–2010 State of Learning in Canada: A Year in Review report provides the most up-to-date information available on Canada’s learning landscape, and in the process helps contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of how Canadians are faring as lifelong learners.

Spring is officially here – and what better time to improve your literacy skills! Here are some fun ideas to help you sharpen your literacy skills this season:

Senator Fabian Manning, on behalf of the Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology), today announced a contribution of $474,000 to Bluedrop Performance Learning from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP).

Patricia Grimshaw-Byrne, a retired special education teacher and literacy tutor from central Ontario, has published a unique dictionary designed to be useful to both educators and students. The Grimshaw Dictionary of Homophones is a 165-page resource compiled specifically to identify and describe over 1,000 pairs or groups of what the author calls “the often tricky homophones” in the English language. What is a homophone, you might ask.