National Adult Literacy Database

Compared to 12 months earlier, employment in Canada was up by 121,000 (+0.7%), with the bulk of the increase occurring in the first half of the period, according to the new Labour Force Survey results from Statistics Canada.

The funding from the Department of Labour and Advanced Education will help provide trade and industry-specific training for about 400 people and lead to employment for about 200 Mi'kmaq in seven First Nations communities.

There are three components to the problem of labour shortages. The first two – an aging and shrinking work force, and a knowledge-skills shortage – have been well documented. But the third is a shortage of the essential skills required in any job.

This national award, which made its debut in 2010, recognizes an individual for his/her outstanding achievement towards increasing workplace literacy and essential skills in the community.

The Canadian Literacy and Learning Network (CLLN), a non-profit charitable organization, represents literacy coalitions, organizations and individuals in every province and territory. CLLN shares knowledge, engages partners and stakeholders, and builds awareness to advance literacy and learning across Canada.

The Office of Literacy and Essential Skills (OLES) has launched a Call for Concepts 2012 with a goal of addressing critical research gaps in adult literacy and essential skills. The closing date is April 5, 2012.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is receiving $199,905 from the Government of Canada for an 18-month project to provide mentorship to young women in their leadership roles.

As most workers in Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan enjoyed the Family Day holiday, Randstad Canada, the country's leader for staffing, recruitment and HR Services, reinforced the importance of remembering that optimum employee contribution comes from a balance of performance and sufficient rest.

Receiving negative feedback during a performance review is never a pleasant experience. But it's important to view a bad performance review in a positive way - as a wake-up call, not a career-ender.

To flourish at work, employees need to concentrate on their positive states when they experience them. Doing so, can boost worker immune systems and increase energy levels, says a registered psychologist. If you are consistently miserable, she says it is probably time to move on.

Canadian employers slipped to 20th place in terms of the priority employers place on employee skills training in a recent ranking. Less than 30 per cent of adult workers aged 25-64 received job-related education and training in Canada, compared with 45 per cent in the U.S., show data from Industry Canada and Statistics Canada.

According to the results of Randstad's latest Global Workmonitor, surveying employees in 29 countries around the world, over half of Canadian employees expect to keep working beyond their official retirement age. Interestingly enough, nearly half of the respondents say they're happy about it.

Young people are still having a tough time finding work -- and if anything, their situation has worsened. At the same time, women aged 55 and over continue to land jobs. This group has seen the biggest percentage gains in job growth of any demographic group over the past year.

Employment was virtually unchanged in January, and the unemployment rate edged up 0.1 percentage points to 7.6% as more people searched for work. Compared with 12 months earlier, employment rose by 129,000 (+0.7%), with most of the growth occurring in the first six months of this period.

Not all francophone minority communities carry the same weight or have the same institutional support. “On the Acadian peninsula of New Brunswick and in certain regions of Ontario, people can easily obtain services in French. They have institutional support whereas in British Columbia it takes people a long time to obtain services in French. It is important to make that distinction,” says Yvon Laberge, a member of the NALD Board of Directors.