Posted: January 4, 2013 |

Categories: Essential skills, Learning
The National Adult Literacy Database (NALD) is beginning a new year with an updated Vision, Mission and Values/Guiding Principles. NALD staff, under the direction of CEO Bill Stirling, started the renewal process with the NALD Board of Directors, including the CEO, adding the finishing touches and formalizing the new guidelines and the NALD Value Proposition at a recent board meeting.
"As librarians, we see first-hand what materials kids are actually reading and getting excited about. Over the past few years, there’s been a lot of anticipation in children’s books with new trends bubbling up to the surface each year. But what does the future hold for children's literature?"
ABC Life Literacy Canada and HSBC Bank Canada are working together to help Canadian families increase their literacy skills this year. HSBC Bank Canada is the 2013 and 2014 title sponsor of the HSBC Learning Activity Centre, in support of ABC Life Literacy Canada’s Family Literacy Day January 27.
Posted: January 11, 2013 |

Category: Labour market
The “new normal” of collective bargaining in Canada — modest economic prospects matched by modest expectations — may provide a degree of certainty not seen in several years, The Conference Board of Canada has concluded in its Industrial Relations Outlook 2013: Embracing the “New Normal.”
Posted: January 11, 2013 |

Category: Labour market
Funding will be available for not-for-profit organizations, public-sector employers and small businesses to create high-quality summer job opportunities for young people from 15 to 30 years of age who are full-time students intending to return to their studies in the next school year.
Posted: January 8, 2013 |

Category: Labour market
The new Job Alerts will provide emails to Canadian subscribers twice a day that contain job postings from a variety of sources, including Job Bank and other recruitment systems. Job Alerts will continue to be refined and improved over time to ensure it works effectively and efficiently for users.
Posted: January 8, 2013 |

Category: Learning
Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI) has announced that the TD Financial Literacy Grant Fund has awarded $837,321 in grants to 12 community organizations engaged in financial literacy projects across Canada.
Posted: January 7, 2013 |

Category: Learning
The New Year is here, and with it come promises of change – eating healthier, going to the gym and getting a new job, perhaps. Improving your literacy skills can also help you make the ultimate change.
Posted: January 4, 2013 |

Category: Labour market
Employment rose by 40,000 in December, the fourth increase in five months, according to a new Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada. December's increase was all in full-time work. The unemployment rate declined 0.1 percentage points to 7.1%, the lowest in four years.
Posted: January 2, 2013 |

Category: Learning
Canadians across the country have an opportunity to show appreciation for extraordinary volunteers in their communities. The call for nominations for the Prime Minister’s Volunteer Awards is open until March 1, 2013.
Posted: December 20, 2012 |

Category: Learning
CMEC has just published PCAP-13 2007: Report on Reading Strategies and Reading Achievement, the third in a series of research projects in which the PCAP-13 2007 data set is used to examine questions of interest to educational policy-makers and practitioners in Canada. It focuses on the factors that contribute to the performance of 13-year-old Canadian students in reading.
Posted: December 20, 2012 |

Category: Learning
CMEC has just published a new report that examines how better data and evidence can be developed to support jurisdictions' efforts to improve the academic achievement and attainment of Aboriginal students in provincial and territorial elementary and secondary schools.
Posted: December 17, 2012 |

Category: Learning
Whether you’re a young person who recently graduated, just getting your career started or finally moving out on your own, it can be hard to keep track of your personal finances. Some of the biggest mistakes are also the most common and can seriously cost you in the long term. Here are the top 10, along with some tips on how to avoid them.
Posted: December 14, 2012 |

Category: Labour market
“The new, enhanced Job Alerts system is being introduced to improve and strengthen the job information made available to Canadians,” said Human Resources and Skills Development Minister Diane Finley. “We are pleased to launch this system in January and begin better helping people find employment opportunities in their area, from a variety of sources.”
Posted: December 13, 2012 |

Category: Labour market
"Things are moving extremely quickly in analytics, social business, smarter commerce and security,” says Les Rechan, general manager of business analytics at IBM. “What we’ve found here … is that technology becomes the Number 1 challenge for CEOs.”
Posted: December 11, 2012 |

Category: Learning
Canadian parents and teachers are succeeding at creating an environment at home and at school that promotes good reading skills among children, according to reports released today by the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) and the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). But while the reports show that Canadian Grade 4 students perform well in reading by international standards, there remains room for improvement.
Posted: December 7, 2012 |

Category: Labour market
Following little change in October, employment rose by 59,000 in November, the result of an increase in full-time work. The unemployment rate declined 0.2 percentage points to 7.2 per cent.
Posted: December 6, 2012 |

Category: Essential skills
Take time to view NALD's Glossary and you’ll soon discover how much ground it covers in the fields of learning, essential skills and workplace/workforce development. It’s also worth exploring if your organization is going through a period of change and you need to be reminded of key elements that factor into daily routines.
Posted: December 5, 2012 |

Category: Learning
Over the past few years Canadian Literacy and Learning Network (CLLN) has undergone a number of changes. One of the most recent changes has been the transition from a representational board to a skills-based board. CLLN is currently seeking applicants for one of 10 board positions.
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: 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 |

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 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 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 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 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
Over 100 eminent academics have signed a letter to Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Minister John Duncan demanding that core funding for Aboriginal organizations be restored to protect vital research projects underway. The signatories highlight that researchers partner with tribal councils, the National Aboriginal Health Organization, and other Aboriginal representative organizations to address "health, education and infrastructure issues that are preventing Canadian First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities from reaching their full potential."
Posted: November 22, 2012 |

Category: Labour market
A newly released report by the Council of Canadian Academies, entitled 'Strengthening Canada's Research Capacity: The Gender Dimension,' provides an assessment of the the factors that influence university research careers of women. This assessment was requested by the Minister of Industry in the fall of 2010 after the notable absence of female candidates for the prestigious Canada Excellence Research Chairs program.