National Adult Literacy Database

The Saskatchewan Literacy Network has prepared this report to provide the context for literacy and essential skills activities in the province and to gain a more strategic understanding of existing and emerging skill shortages and their impact on literacy and essential skills.

Manitoba will build on its success in increasing apprenticeship and trades opportunities for more Manitobans and grow Manitoba’s skilled workforce through a new program called Skill Build. The program will upgrade and equip more industrial arts classrooms in rural Manitoba for apprenticeship training.

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."

The National Call for Concepts for Social Finance invites organizations and individuals from across the country to submit ideas on how to improve social and economic outcomes for Canadians. Social finance is an exciting new way to encourage social innovation by creating new opportunities for investors and community organizations to partner on innovative projects and take their great ideas to a new level.

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.

"When Essential Skills Ontario (the Ontario Literacy Coalition [OLC] at the time) began in 1987, the skills needs of adults were much different than they are today. Since then, much has changed: our lives, communities and workplaces have become more technologically centric and we have shifted towards a knowledge economy." -- Essential Skills Ontario's Board of Directors and Staff

It may come as no surprise to many people, but email still reigns supreme as the primary method of communication among executives when it comes to professional networking, according to a survey by Robert Half Management Resources.

Each month NALD releases Library user statistics in a feature known as the Top 20 downloads. The report examines the number of NALD Library documents which are viewed and downloaded by visitors to the NALD website.

To mark the beginning of Financial Literacy Month, CCFL has launched the Financial Literacy Evaluation Resource Kit, a complete set of tools to enable community organizations to measure, report on, and enhance the impact of their financial literacy education activities. This initiative was funded by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada.

Ushering in Financial Literacy Month in Canada, Scotiabank has announced the introduction of a global financial literacy strategy to support communities in Canada and across Scotiabank's global network.

It is clear that finding and using sources of sound financial information and advice and being able to manage one's own financial affairs effectively are more important than ever for Canadians. In recognition of these challenges, a number of organizations have joined together to raise awareness of the issues, to help find solutions, and to declare November 2012 as the second annual Financial Literacy Month in Canada.

Enterprising Non-Profits will provide workshops, business plan support and grants to non-profits interested in starting new social enterprises. The Citizen’s Bridge pilot project expands BUILD’s (Building Urban Industries for Local Development) successful driver training program to over 20 referral partners and will provide support in obtaining proper identification and financial literacy training to help people who have challenges connecting to employment.

Canada remains a nation of French and English speakers, but people are speaking a greater variety of languages at home, as long-term trends in immigration shape the country’s linguistic landscape.

With email the preferred mode of communication in the workplace, many businesses are finding they need to help their employees brush up on some basic interpersonal skills. Poor writing skills can affect corporate reputation and financial success, and result in individuals taking a hit in earnings potential.