Posted: May 1, 2013 |

Categories: Essential skills, Learning
“Throughout its long history, the literacy and essential skills field has continually evolved and adapted in response to the changing needs of adults. This timeline captures some of the important people, events, initiatives and other influences that have helped shape the literacy and essential skills field in Canada over the past 200 years.” -- Essential Skills Ontario
Posted: July 12, 2012 |

Category: Learning
The consortium had asked the Supreme Court to interpret the fair dealing provision in the Copyright Act to permit teachers to make copies of short excerpts from a copyright-protected work, such as a book or a newspaper, for distribution to students.
Posted: July 11, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
Businesses that successfully hire and retain Aboriginal workers benefit in more ways than just finding qualified employees. Employing Aboriginal workers helps organizations build stronger connections and relationships within their local communities. Businesses become more diverse and inclusive when they tap into the talents of Aboriginal workers, and Aboriginal peoples who are successful in the workplace act as role models for others in their communities.
Posted: July 11, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
The third annual Essential Skills Day will take place September 21, 2012, to raise awareness of the nine essential skills as defined by the Government of Canada and the importance of training in the workplace.
Posted: July 10, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
The Globe and Mail newspaper conducted a survey of student readers, asking whether they thought their summer earnings would cover their expenses for the school year. Of more than 150 respondents, 87 per cent said they had found a summer job, and 13 per cent said they were unemployed.
Posted: July 9, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
Business owners in Alberta (73.3) and Saskatchewan (72.5) have collectively been the most optimistic in Canada for 11 consecutive months, while entrepreneurs in Manitoba (65.9), New Brunswick (65.7) and British Columbia (65.6) are comfortably above the national average, and those in Newfoundland and Labrador (61.3) are close to average.
Posted: July 9, 2012 |

Category: Learning
Twenty-first century learning was the defining theme of the Halifax meeting, where ministers exchanged information on a number of education-related topics.
Posted: July 9, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
In June, employment was little changed for the second consecutive month and the unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percentage points to 7.2 per cent, as fewer people searched for work. Compared with 12 months earlier, employment increased 1.0 per cent or 181,000.
Posted: July 6, 2012 |

Categories: Essential skills, Learning
In times of economic uncertainty and ever-changing information technology, organizations – whether in the public domain or private sector – are often obligated to sit back, reflect and re-evaluate their activities and priorities. With this in mind, the National Adult Literacy Database (NALD) is adapting some of its services and setting a new course for the future.
Posted: July 3, 2012 |

Category: Learning
Canada's ministers of education will be in Halifax, July 4–6, 2012, at the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront Hotel, for the 100th meeting of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), their long-standing intergovernmental body.
Posted: July 3, 2012 |

Category: Learning
Essential Skills Ontario is currently working on releasing a series of research briefs that carries on the conversation first addressed in our widely received Menial No More report, in order to examine the challenges and opportunities in training adults without a high school diploma
Posted: June 29, 2012 |

Category: Learning
Frontier College will participate in the launch of a new family reading activity in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Governor General’s Literary Awards. Summer family activities will run from June 30 to September 3 while Story Time at Rideau Hall will be held Thursdays and Saturdays from 1 to 3 p.m.
Posted: June 29, 2012 |

Category: Learning
Grass Roots Press, in partnership with ABC Life Literacy Canada, is delighted to announce the September release of four new titles to the popular adult literacy Good Reads book series. Good Reads are original books by bestselling Canadian authors written for adult literacy and ESL learners.
Posted: June 27, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
The Centre de documentation sur l’éducation des adultes et la condition féminine (CDÉACF), located in Montreal, has won the NALD Innovative Technology Award for its new online repository: Compétencesessentielles.ca - 9 Compétences Essentielles pour apprendre, travailler et vivre.
Posted: June 22, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
The Essential Skills Good Practice Guide from the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) was produced as a result of the Working with the Community project focusing on the development of Essential Skills (ES) tools and practices.
Posted: June 20, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
"CUPE has a proud history of supporting our First Nations, Inuit and Métis members. Our National Aboriginal Council works to increase participation of Aboriginal peoples in our union, and promotes and defends the rights of Aboriginal workers in both our union and in the community." - Paul Moist, national president, and Charles Fleury, national secretary-treasurer
Posted: June 20, 2012 |

Category: Learning
There's no shortage of skilled trade jobs in an economy where the resource industry is booming and employers are looking for able-bodied individuals to do everything from equipment repair to electrical and carpentry work.
Posted: June 20, 2012 |

Category: Learning
It is a key priority for ETFO to support partnerships and initiatives that advance the rights and opportunities of Aboriginal children and youth. Since 2005, ETFO has supported the Lieutenant Governor's Summer Literacy Initiatives for isolated First Nations communities including most recently a campaign by Lieutenant Governor David Onley and Aski Nation Grand Chief Stan Beardy to secure e-readers for 5,000 children and youth in those communities.
Posted: June 19, 2012 |

Category: Learning
Bill C-11 provides the legal framework necessary for students and teachers in elementary and secondary schools, colleges, and universities to use publicly available Internet materials in their educational pursuits. Consortium members believe this education amendment is essential at a time when governments are simultaneously increasing levels of connectivity, promoting skills development and innovation, and supporting the use of the Internet in classrooms.
Posted: June 18, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
The research suggests not only that parents’ participation plays a key role in shaping child development, but that disadvantaged parents face more barriers in engaging in these practices. Complementary research shows that parents’ socioeconomic circumstances and educational attainment levels have a direct effect on children’s outcomes.
Posted: June 14, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
The Board of Directors and staff of the former Ontario Literacy Coalition have announced they have officially become Essential Skills Ontario. "This new name and brand allows us to expand the reach of the organization and better achieve our mission of inspiring and leading the development of literacy and essential skills solutions through excellence in collaboration, research and innovation," said Lesley Brown, Executive Director.
Posted: June 14, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
Stacy Parker, executive vice-president of Randstad Canada, says job seekers should resist the temptation to take the summer off from job searching. "The summer season can be a prime hiring time for some employers. Many projects gear up in the fall, and employers want new people in place."
Posted: June 13, 2012 |

Category: Learning
"We are passionate about children's literacy and have been proud to support the TD Summer Reading Club for the past 17 years," said Frank McKenna, Deputy Chair, TD Bank Group. "Together with our partners at the Toronto Public Library and Library and Archives Canada we are thrilled to bring this program to more than 550,000 children once again this year."
Posted: June 12, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
"This boost in the engineering and construction sector renders an undeniable need for experienced and talented professionals to power up the industry," says Mike Winterfield, president of Randstad Professionals. "But as the sector surges, skilled workers will become harder to find."
Posted: June 12, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
Despite a conservative hiring forecast, nearly four in 10 (38 per cent) executives said they face a recruiting environment that is either somewhat or very challenging. This is up from 32 per cent last quarter.
Posted: June 8, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
Following two months of large gains, employment was unchanged in May, and the unemployment rate remained at 7.3 per cent.
Posted: June 7, 2012 |

Category: Learning
For a small, northern literacy organization, the NWT Literacy Council has an unexpectedly wide reach. The resources it produces to help literacy workers do their jobs are in demand across Canada and internationally. Many of the resources are among the documents most downloaded from the online library of the National Adult Literacy Database (NALD).
Posted: June 7, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
Thirty-seven per cent of executives indicated their organization has activities such as a company picnic or potluck, and 35 per cent relax their dress code during the summer months.
Posted: June 6, 2012 |

Category: Learning
Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI) has announced the 15 community organizations that have been awarded a total of $999,267 from the TD Financial Literacy Grant Fund to support financial literacy projects.
Posted: June 4, 2012 |

Category: Learning
NALD’s Feature of the Month for June shines the spotlight on AlphaPlus’ Featured Technology section: a fast, easy way to access pertinent information on new technology tools and resources.
Posted: May 31, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
This new report, published by AlphaPlus in French, discusses the use of assistive technologies in the workplace and offers an approach to address the needs of francophone adult learners. More specifically, this report on assistive technologies and learner motivation is designed to help improve the instructional design of assistive technologies in order to prepare learners to develop and maintain new skills throughout their lives.