Posted: December 4, 2012 |

Category: Labour market
Canadian businesses are at risk of falling behind international competitors in the era of Big Data. A recent survey conducted by IDC Canada and commissioned by SAS, has found that while 96 per cent of Canadian companies say the ability to process and act on data in real time is important, less than half (48%) have invested in the technologies to do so.
Posted: December 4, 2012 |

Category: Labour market
'Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100' is Canada's best-known awards program for the country's highest-achieving women leaders in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. "We believe that investing in the enormous untapped potential of women is a strategic imperative. Women are not only the largest pool of incoming talent globally — for our organization as well as others worldwide — but they are also our future clients and the biggest economic growth engines of the next decade. -- Trent Henry, Ernst & Young's Canadian Chairman and CEO
Posted: December 4, 2012 |

Category: Labour market
OECD countries have made much progress over the past decade in helping immigrants integrate into society. But much remains to be done, notably in improving how well immigrant children do at school and in finding work, and in immigrant women’s access to employment, according to a new OECD report.
Posted: December 4, 2012 |

Category: Labour market
Public sector employees in Canada take nearly five more sick, disability and personal days per year than Canadians working in the private sector, at an annual cost of up to $3.5 billion, says a report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
Posted: December 3, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
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.
Posted: December 3, 2012 |

Category: Labour market
An analysis of Canada’s job market shows there is a growing divide between have and have not occupations. On one hand, we are increasingly seeing jobs go unfilled for long stretches due to a lack of skilled applicants. In fact, the Prime Minister recently described skills shortages in the Canadian labour market as “the biggest challenge our country faces.” But on the other end of the labour market spectrum, there is growing evidence that the size of the labour surplus pool is also
on the rise.
Posted: November 30, 2012 |

Category: Labour market
For many people in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), the commute to work or school costs a significant amount of time and money, while contributing to daily stress levels. Employers are recognizing that they have a role to play in managing this.
Posted: November 30, 2012 |

Category: Learning
"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.
Posted: November 30, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
Critical questions of self-determination cannot be solved until Northerners' culturally specific essential skills are recognized across the country, argued participants at the "Made in the North" literacy forum in Yellowknife, NWT, recently.
Posted: November 30, 2012 |

Categories: Essential skills, Learning
In his new free workshop for 2013, Tom Sticht reviews extensive data on intergenerational inequalities in education and economics. He also presents data from many studies to suggest that greater investments in the education of undereducated youth and adults, many of whom are parents or will become parents, can help break the multiple life cycles of inequalities in education and economic achievement.
Posted: November 30, 2012 |

Category: Learning
BC Ideas is an online competition for over $270,000 in funding to encourage social innovation in British Columbia. Decoda Literacy Solutions is providing $20,000 in funding ($5,000 each to four entries) through BC Ideas to innovative ideas that use literacy as a strategy to address challenges in B.C. communities.
Posted: November 30, 2012 |

Category: Learning
For the second year in a row, Decoda Literacy Solutions staff spent the fall travelling to eight regions around British Columbia for two-day training, networking and idea-sharing events.
Posted: November 29, 2012 |

Category: Labour market
"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."
Posted: November 29, 2012 |

Category: Learning
Toronto Public Library has announced its sixth annual First & Best Booklist, the highly anticipated selection of the year's best in Canadian books for children from birth to age five that are fun to read and help build early literacy skills.
Posted: November 29, 2012 |

Category: Learning
Junior Achievement of Canada is pleased to announce the launch of the new "Keep your balance" interactive tool for students. The tool was developed in partnership with Accenture and allows students to understand how the financial and environmental decisions they make can impact their life.
Posted: November 29, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
Skills/Compétences Canada, a national not-for-profit organization that actively promotes careers in skilled trades, has announced that Lowe's will be renewing its Toolbox for Education Grant Program for 2013. This will be the third year that Lowe's, in partnership with Skills/Compétences Canada, offers the program benefiting students and educators in Ontario and Alberta.
Posted: November 27, 2012 |

Category: Learning
TD Bank says investing in early education programs will help Canada address the major economic threats it is facing over the coming decades, including poverty, critical skills shortages and yawning productivity gaps that hold our economy back.
Posted: November 27, 2012 |

Category: Labour market
An overwhelming majority (96 per cent) of Canadian owners of small and medium-sized businesses agree that workers 65 years and older offer more valuable experience and expertise than younger workers, according to new research from Investors Group. Sixty-nine per cent contend that this group is not more expensive to employ.
Posted: November 27, 2012 |

Category: Learning
TD Bank Group has been instrumental in supporting the ongoing development and delivery of Junior Achievement's programs across Canada for more than 15 years. The most recent gift of $400,000 will help build an online platform to support the growth of three major programs - Economics for Success, Dollars with Sense and Company Program - and thereby increase their reach in homes, classrooms and communities across the country.
Posted: November 27, 2012 |

Category: Labour market
Many workers are saying "Bah, humbug!" to company holiday parties, a new OfficeTeam survey suggests. Although more than three-quarters (77 per cent) of senior managers interviewed said their employer is holding a holiday celebration this year, only 55 per cent of employees gave the festivities high marks.
Posted: November 26, 2012 |

Category: Labour market
"The system is based on the fact that the staffing industry can grow more effectively when it is interdependent. Much like the MLS system for real estate, each Career Broker™ has the ability to list their client's openings and list their candidates' profiles for other Career Brokers™ to share." -- Founder & President Richard C. Fernandes
Posted: November 26, 2012 |

Categories: Essential skills, Learning
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.
Posted: November 26, 2012 |

Category: Learning
Do you admire someone who excels as an adult learner or adult educator? Consider this opportunity to honour that hardworking, enthusiastic learner or educator in your life. Nominate him or her for a Life of Learning Award (LOLA) sponsored by Calgary Learns.
Posted: November 26, 2012 |

Category: Learning
CSTD programming focuses primarily on those areas that are specific to training and development. While general management and leadership topics are always included in their programs, priority is given to the five core competency areas for the profession.
Posted: November 26, 2012 |

Category: Learning
In this centre you will find numerous games and resources to help you and your family learn together as you get ready for Family Literacy Day 2013. All it takes is 15 minutes a day to improve your literacy skills and it's fun when you do it together. The Learning Activity Centre is generously sponsored by HSBC Bank Canada.
Posted: November 23, 2012 |

Categories: Labour market, Learning
I DO BUSINESS. National Summit & Trade Show (Success for Aboriginal Entrepreneurs) will bring together business and literacy to support current and emerging Aboriginal entrepreneurs from coast to coast to coast in Canada. Planned for March 4-6, 2013, in Toronto, this event brings to the forefront the importance of connecting economic development and adult literacy to support Aboriginal business development.
Posted: November 23, 2012 |

Category: Learning
Libraries, archives, museums and historical sites are in the spotlight as the Canadian Association of University Teachers launches its 'Canada's Past Matters' campaign.
Posted: November 22, 2012 |

Categories: Essential skills, Learning
The Centre for Excellence in Foundational Learning at Bow Valley College is looking for experienced adult education practitioners to serve on an advisory committee for an innovative adult writing assessment project titled Write Forward. Members will assist in reviews of project design and development through all stages, and assist with networking and promotion of the project across Canada.
Posted: November 22, 2012 |

Category: Labour market
The mood around the office water cooler is generally positive, new research suggests. In an Accountemps survey, more than half (54 per cent) of workers described the morale at their companies as somewhat good. Twenty-eight per cent of people said workplace morale is very good.
Posted: November 22, 2012 |

Category: Learning
In the heart of Saint‑Boniface, Winnipeg's officially bilingual community, an organization founded in 1982 by and for women in Manitoba, celebrated its 30th anniversary in October. The theme of the celebration was "Thirty years of living in harmony."