National Adult Literacy Database

The implementation of revised international System of National Accounts economic accounting standards resulted in a slight downward revision to Canada's average annual growth in business sector labour productivity over the period 1981 to the second quarter of 2012.

Join the party to celebrate one of Canada’s most prestigious book awards, The Scotiabank Giller Prize, at the Scotiabank Giller Light Bash, in support of Frontier College. This year, there are parties held from coast to coast. You can celebrate in Halifax, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver. On Tuesday, October 30, join the action by watching the Scotiabank Giller Prize! Each party will have its own special fun.

Decoda's Workplace Wednesday connects you with resources that link literacy to business, industry and the workplace. Today’s resource is a review of essential skills literacy initiatives in Ontario.

Sandi Howell is Provincial Manager, Sector Council Program, Essential Skills and RPL, at Industry Workforce Development (IWD), in Manitoba’s Department of Entrepreneurship, Training and Trade. She also serves as the province’s strategic advisor to Workplace Education Manitoba.

Clear Language and Design's Sally McBeth has selected two "humble items" from her household mail to illustrate the benefits of choosing clear language in writing. The first piece she has rewritten for the sake of clarity; she is offering the second one as an exercise to help mark International Clear Language Day.

We should never underestimate the important roles played by community learning centres across our vast country. One remarkable centre, located in what has been described as one of Canada’s poorest postal codes, is Vancouver’s Canucks Family Education Centre.

The B.C. government has committed $250,000 for the two-year First Nations Forestry Technician Training Program, being offered at numerous college and universities across the province, including College of New Caledonia and Vancouver Island University.

Over the past 18 months, the Canadian Literacy and Learning Network (CLLN) has been engaged in a series of research projects exploring the links between literacy and earnings, resulting in the complex Literacy and Earnings Project.

Some of the fastest growing jobs in the coming decade have yet to be identified. In fact, the term “new job” itself is changing. It can refer to a job that did not previously exist, or a job that carries the same name but requires such different skills as to render it changed. In either case, the need for skilled employees to fill these positions is increasing.

Decoda Literacy Solutions is proud to announce the launch of the Adult Literacy Database. This database will capture data about adult literacy programs in British Columbia, and will fulfill a longstanding need for a simple and effective program management tool for adult literacy programs.

"Literacy, if we need to be reminded, is the great enabler that allows individuals to unlock their potential. It’s the basic skill set on which most other capabilities are built. As we celebrate International Literacy Day (proclaimed by UNESCO in 1965) this Saturday, we should also remember that literacy is a fundamental human right."

UNESCO will host an international conference September 26-28, 2012, in Vancouver to explore the main issues affecting the preservation of digital documentary heritage. The goal is to develop strategies that will contribute to greater protection of digital assets and help to define an implementation methodology that is appropriate for developing countries, in particular.

A new publication in the NALD Library could serve as a wakeup call for Canadians interested in or concerned about the future of the workforce. A follow-up to People without Jobs, Jobs without People (2010), Dr. Rick Miner’s latest work is entitled Jobs of the Future: Options and Opportunities (2012).

Literacy is more than just reading and writing. Being literate helps you make sense of your world. Literacy also means lifelong learning. And what better place to start than at the library?

Through a competitive process, the Sectoral Initiatives Program will fund partnership-based projects that are national in scope and that support the development of labour market intelligence to help address skills shortages in key sectors of Canada’s economy.