National Adult Literacy Database

With an unemployment rate in northern B.C. sitting at 11.5 per cent and layoffs looming at northern colleges, the B.C. government's vaunted BC Jobs Plan is failing northern communities, unions representing post-secondary workers say.

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.

According to a recent national survey reporting on nearly 10,000 Canadian classes, one in every six students has an identified learning exceptionality. In addition, more than one in 10 students in these classes have challenges understanding the school's language of instruction. The survey, conducted by the Canadian Teachers' Federation drew responses from nearly 3,800 teachers, the largest number obtained in a CTF online survey to date.

Establishing a culture of learning in the home encourages an exchange of ideas, enriches family relationships, and bolsters confidence and independent thinking. On January 27 across Canada thousands of families, literacy groups, schools, libraries and community organizations gathered in their communities to celebrate the importance of literacy and learning in honour of Family Literacy Day – Canada’s largest family literacy initiative.

What are provinces doing to boost workplace essential skill levels? The HR Council for the Non-Profit Sector outlines what's happening strategy-wise in Nova Scotia and British Columbia.

Think of the wonder in a baby’s eyes when looking at her first flower, or tasting her first strawberry. For growing minds, the world is an extraordinary adventure. That adventure and wonder doesn’t have to stop as we grow up. Everyday life is full of opportunities to learn, grow, try new things and develop new skills.

We stand with the world's most influential citizens while flipping pages quietly in a chair. A dreary day fades away as we consume word after word, page after page, entering worlds we never knew existed.

Multilingual parents needn’t worry about confusing their children with multiple languages spoken at home, as new research findings from the University of Calgary reveal children can acquire and switch between languages effortlessly as long as they start young and interact regularly in those tongues.

A new web-based resource lets parents and teachers better help children who demonstrate unusual or worrisome emotions and behaviour, providing guidance as to whether they are a normal part of development or a potential mental health problem.

British Columbia may have one of the largest Aboriginal populations in Canada but it isn’t the only province whose first peoples are struggling to reconcile the history of colonialism, forced assimilation and abuse found in the residential school system with the need to educate and prepare their children for life in the 21st century.

Lisa Raitt, Canada’s minister of labour, hosted a roundtable with key stakeholders on the issue of women in the workforce. The roundtable was held as a follow-up to a series of meetings conducted by the minister last summer.

If you need to have things a certain way at work or you become anxious, or you hold yourself to impossible standards, you may have a problem with perfectionism. Here are some tips for making some important workplace changes in 2012.

Young Inuit children are growing up with fast-evolving technology but some parents fear their traditional language skills just can't keep up. That's what inspired one Iqaluit father to create educational software for children in the Inuit language.

Sit on the sidelines of a child's soccer or baseball game and you will see both men and women handling work issues from their cellphones or iPads while cheering from the bleachers. Today, the workplace goes wherever we go, and these parents are trying to juggle it all.

The new year is here and with it come promises of change – eating healthier foods, going to the gym, getting a new job. But beyond the traditional resolutions, improving your literacy skills can help you make the ultimate change.