Tools
Program directories | Self-evaluation | Workforce preparation
Library catalogues
Centre for Literacy of Quebec’s Library
Category: Literacy
The Centre for Literacy of Quebec is home to one of Canada’s largest special library collections on adult literacy, basic skills, and related topics in education.
Category: Literacy
The goal of COMPAS is to promote research and encourage the exchange of knowledge between researchers and practitioners in the fields of adult education, training and literacy in Quebec and elsewhere in French Canada.
The Directory of Canadian Adult Literacy Research in English
Category: Literacy
A comprehensive database containing Canadian research in adult literacy from 1994, as well as research in progress.
Category: Literacy
LearningLinks contains the combined resource collections of Literacy Alberta and the Calgary Learning Centre. This library has over 14,000 resources for people living and working with literacy and learning difficulties.
Literacy B.C. Resource Catalogue
Category: Literacy
This section of the Literacy BC website is intended to provide you online access to the library collection.
Literacy Partners of Manitoba Library Catalogue
Category: Literacy
Literacy Partners of Manitoba Library containing accessible resources such as books, brochures, text books, videos and CD's
Northwest Territories Literacy Council Resource Library
Category: Literacy
The NWT Literacy Council Resource Library online catalogue has more than 1500 items, including books, kits, videos and software.
Online educational resources
Category: Essential skills
The Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) has developed this site to provide an exchange network on essential skills for its member institutions and their partners. It features a description of ongoing and completed essential skills projects and a database of resources and tools.
Category: Essential skills
Accredited online colleges are growing in size, traditional colleges are adopting online programs, and all trends indicate that distance learning is not only here to stay but that it will make an unprecedented impact on the educational systems currently in place. This site is dedicated to providing resources that will help readers understand online colleges and accreditation and make informed decisions regarding the different schools and certifications being offered for those who are interested in pursuing a degree online.
Category: Essential skills
The Canadian Literacy Thesaurus is a bilingual list of standardized vocabulary in the area of adult literacy. Developed in consultation with the Canadian literacy community, both the terminology and structure of the thesaurus reflect the diversity of regional literacy practices and activities across Canada.
Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks (CCLB)
Category: Essential skills
The Centre for Canadian Language Benchmarks (CCLB) is the national standard setting body for the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) and Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens (NCLC). The CCLB supports and promotes the use of these national standards in educational, training, community and workplace settings.
Construction Sector Council (CSC) E-Learning Centre
Category: Essential skills
The Construction Sector Council (CSC) is a national organization committed to the development of a highly skilled construction workforce. One of its ongoing programs is the development of e-learning courses for construction supervisory and managerial personnel. To view a listing of the courses that CSC currently provides please view its Course Catalogue.
Directory of ESL Courses and Employment Programs for Immigrants in British Columbia
Category: Essential skills
This is a comprehensive online directory of English as a second language courses and programs, courses and services that prepare immigrants for a job or career in British Columbia. The directory allows users to select a city in which programs are offered and view specific contact information for each site.
Category: Essential skills
Take the Employer of Choice challenge. An Employer of Choice is one people have heard about and want to join and one where people are proud of the fact they belong to the organization. An Employer of Choice is one where people go out of their way to perform at the highest level possible and one where people make an extra effort to find new and innovative ways to respond to new demands.
Essential Skills at Work in the North
Category: Essential skills
By clicking on various posters on this interactive display board, visitors can learn about each job outlined, the training and background required for each, and the skills needed to do the work successfully. The job profiles include information about how the essential skills are used in each job.
Category: Essential skills
The Government of Canada conducted extensive research to examine the skills people use in the workplace. From this research and through interviews with workers, managers, practitioners and leading researchers, over 350 Essential Skills Profiles have been developed for various occupations of the National Occupational Classification.
Category: Essential skills
The Everyday Life Project uses interactive, situation-based lessons to teach functional literacy skills. This new approach to learning allows learners to apply their basic literacy skills to real-world situations so they can gain the confidence and skills to be successful.
Category: Essential skills
Getting Online: Distance Education Promising Practices for Canadian Literacy Practitioners (the GO Project) was an innovative national project designed to research trends, technologies and promising practices in online learning in Canada. This website features an overview of online learning, tips for online learners, a section devoted to online software and training modules.
Category: Essential skills
If you need a quick review of grammar, punctuation and capitalization rules that support the English language, this website will serve you well. A handy guide to commonly confused words and rules for writing numbers are also featured.
Category: Essential skills
InMyLanguage.org provides multilingual information for newcomers to Ontario. Categories include immigrating, work, housing, health, education, legal matters and daily life. Funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the site was developed by the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants.
Job Profiles / Literacy in the Workplace
Category: Essential skills
In conjunction with industry training organizations and employers in New Zealand, the website Workbase has created profiles of the literacy skills required in many jobs. The profiles can be used by employers, industry training organizations, tutors and trainers, schools, career counsellors and employees.
Category: Essential skills
The Learning Edge is a learning tool funded by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities and the National Literacy Secretariat. Its video and audio components cover topics such as communication in the workplace, workplace safety, essential workplace skills and what it takes to stay employed.
Media Awareness Network (MNet)
Category: Essential skills
Media Awareness Network (MNet) is a Canadian not-for-profit centre for digital and media literacy. Its vision is that young people have the critical thinking skills to engage with media as active and informed digital citizens. MNet's programs are funded by sponsors, donors and partners that include: TELUS • Google • Canadian Internet Registration Authority • Bell • Shaw • Bell Media • NFB.
National Occupational Classification
Category: Essential skills
The National Occupational Classification is the authoritative resource on occupational information in Canada. It provides a standardized framework for organizing the world of work in a coherent system and is implemented in a number of major services and products throughout the private and public sectors.
Ontario Network of Employment Skills Training Projects (ONESTEP)
Category: Essential skills
The Ontario Network of Employment Skills Training Projects (ONESTEP) is a province-wide umbrella organization for the community-based training and employment sector. More than 450 programs are provided by member agencies. Services include career and personal counselling; literacy, ESL and numeracy programs; job-finding clubs; computer courses; sector-specific training and job placement.
Category: Essential skills
SkillPlan has been nationally recognized as a leader in the field of essential skills and workplace education. Its mandate is to serve the construction sector, however, its experience in responding to a variety of workplace challenges suggests that many essential skills issues are common not only to multiple trades but to other sectors. One of SkillPlan’s strategies for improving essential skills is to develop materials for others to use. These resources make a valuable addition to professional libraries.
STP: Skills Training Partnership
Category: Essential skills
A Skills Training Partnership is a unique project designed to assist employers in developing training programs that prepare qualified job seekers with disabilities for employment. A creation of the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work, this website offers employers, community agencies and persons with disabilities the tools needed for getting started, information about best practices and project/job search support.
Summer in Smallywood Essential Skills Learning Series
Category: Essential skills
The Centre for Skills Development & Training has developed an educational video game targeted at young adults aged 15 to 30 to help enhance their employability. The game is focused on improving their competence in three of the essential skills: oral communication, working with others and thinking skills. It can be played in French by selecting “French” as the language from the top right drop-down menu. The project was funded by the Government of Canada’s Office of Literacy & Essential Skills in partnership with the Halton Industry Education Council.
Category: Essential skills
The Toolkit brings together a pool of resources for workplace language, literacy and numeracy in order to make good practice freely available to practitioners, learning representatives and brokers. These resources include guidelines, case studies and exemplar materials to support and supplement training and development activities.
Category: Essential skills
The Workit Youth Apprenticeship Initiative is a province-wide effort to fill the increasing labour shortage in Nova Scotia’s skilled trades. Whether you’re a youth, parent, educator or an employer, this site has the information you need to learn more about the benefits of youth apprenticeship.
Practitioners' tools
Category: Literacy
The Assessment Resource Project is an IALS-referenced classroom tool to help adults learn to improve their prose and document reading skills. The paper- and pen-based tests can be easily integrated with other materials in basic education, upgrading, college-level and workplace programs.
Certificate in Adult and Continuing Education (CACE) program
Category: Literacy
The Adult and Continuing Education program at the University of Alberta, Faculty of Extension offers professional development courses for adult literacy practitioners. The practitioners who wish to continue their professional development can enroll in the Certificate in Adult and Continuing Education (CACE) program, either immediately or after completing one or more of the adult literacy courses. In either case, the adult literacy courses that they have completed will receive credit in the CACE program. All of the adult literacy courses are online, using the University of Alberta’s highly effective learning systems, eClass and eClass Live! Participants in these courses are able to study in their own communities, part time.
Category: Literacy
A directory of plain/clear communication service providers, in both non-profit and private sectors, as well as a list of links to websites and resources on plain/clear communications.
Clear Language and Design—Online Thesaurus
Category: Literacy
Searching for a cleaner, simpler word or phrase? Enter your "problem word" in our searchable thesaurus, and see if we have an alternative.
Clear Language and Design—Reading Effectiveness Tool
Category: Literacy
Use this Reading Effectiveness Tool to find out if your draft manuscript is at the right Grade Reading Level for your intended audience.
Developing Adult Numeracy: Practitioner Training Course
Category: Literacy
This training course for numeracy practitioners was developed by the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, in partnership with the Literacy Committee of Continuing Education School Board Administrators (CESBA), and the Literacy Basic Skills Committee of the Association of Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology of Ontario (ACAATO). It includes 7 Modules, such an Introduction, Numeracy in Literacy and Basic Skills, Using Ready-made Learning Materials, etc.
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada - Tools and Support
Category: Literacy
The Office of Literacy and Essential Skills has developed a series of free and easy-to-use tools to help address literacy and essential skills challenges.
Learning Outcomes/ ESL Literacy Network
Category: Literacy
This new resource, developed by Bow Valley College, is designed to help ESL literacy curriculum designers and practitioners develop effective and responsive curricula. The learning outcomes database will help you set learning outcomes for your ESL literacy program and classroom. The ESL Literacy Curriculum Framework provides learning outcomes in four strands: reading, writing, literacy strategies and habits of mind.
Category: Literacy
Literacy Basics is a free, self-directed online training website for Ontario literacy practitioners. This innovative training website was researched, written and designed by Community Literacy of Ontario. Literacy Basics contains the following training modules, among others: Assessment; Essential Skills; Instructional Strategies; Learner Recruitment; Marketing; Strategic Planning; Volunteer Management.
Online Certificate in Family Literacy
Category: Literacy
The Centre for Family Literacy, Vancouver Community College and Conestoga College offer an online learning opportunity for gaining a Certificate in Family Literacy. This credentialed program was developed for all levels of leadership, from executive directors and board members, to frontline supervisors and facilitators. It was designed for those who currently work or wish to work in the family literacy community, as well as those working in related fields such as adult education, health, social services, child care, family resource programs and schools.
Social and Holistic Approach to Numeracy
Category: Literacy
This website was prepared as part of a two-year project led by the Labour Education Centre in partnership with the Canadian Union of Public Employees and Workplace Education Manitoba. Features include sample activities developed by practitioners and the team leading the project in addition to practitioner and learner feedback on the benefits and challenges of using this approach to numeracy.
Category: Literacy
Adult literacy instructors will now have an easier time finding suitable and affordable educational software for learners to use, thanks to a project coordinated by the National Adult Literacy Database (NALD) and funded by the Office of Learning Technologies. Evaluations of 108 pieces of educational freeware and shareware have been posted online, and the programs are also categorized and available for download.
Category: Literacy
This program is an interactive, instructional tool designed to provide a basic understanding of computers, their application, e-mail, and the Internet.
Program directories
Category: Literacy
A comprehensive database containing critical–core information about the operations of Aboriginal literacy programs throughout Canada.
International Adult Literacy Survey Database, 1998
Category: Literacy
This interactive data retrieval system allows users to retrieve their own customized tables on literacy profiles for more than 20 countries and for a wide range of combined intermediate variables covering several topics such as: adult education, community activities, demographics, educational experience, household information, labour force experience, language background, mathematics, parental information, reading at home or at work, self-reported skills, training and writing at home or at work.
Category: Literacy
Literacy Partners of Manitoba and local statistician Chris Green have produced a series of maps to provide a snapshot of the literacy profiles in the city of Winnipeg and rural Manitoba.
National Resource Directory of Aboriginal Literacy Programs
Category: Literacy
The directory's purpose is to gather critical–core information about the operations of Aboriginal literacy programs throughout Canada.
Category: Literacy
This directory, The Language of Literacy: Resources For Learning is a hands-on resource oriented to aboriginal literacy practitioners, educators and advocates who are working to strengthen the resource base of aboriginal literacy programming in Canada.
Self-evaluation
Blueprint for Life / Work Design
Category: Essential skills
The Blueprint for Life/Work Design helps you discover the skills, knowledge and attitudes required to effectively design and manage your life, work and career. It is a national framework that maps out the life and work competencies individuals need to effectively build their lives and careers.
Category: Essential skills
The Candidate Manager is a free time-saving, job-matching tool that helps skilled trades employers and potential candidates in the Durham region of Ontario find each other. Employers answer questions about the job they need to fill, candidates answer questions about the skills they have to offer and the system uses technology to find the best matched candidates for available jobs.
Clear Language and Design Reading Effectiveness Tool
Category: Essential skills
Use the reading effectiveness tool to find out if your draft manuscript is at the right grade reading level for your intended audience. This interactive tool is based on the Simple Measure of Gobbledegook (SMOG) readability formula. The tool will do the calculations for you. If your text is shorter than 30 sentences, go to the version of this tool for shorter documents.
Common Assessment of Basic Skills (CABS)
Category: Essential skills
Seventy-nine demonstrations from the CABS (Common Assessment of Basic Skills) manual have been recreated here in an online environment to provide a practical assessment tool for use with literacy/basic skills students who can work on computers.
Category: Essential skills
Service Canada’s training and careers website features Employability Skills+, a tool that informs you about skills you need to enter, stay in and progress in the world of work – whether you work on your own or as a part of a team. Rate yourself against the skills employers say are needed in today’s workplace. There are 49 questions and the approximate time required to complete the exercise is five minutes.
ESPORT, the essential skills portfolio
Category: Essential skills
ESPORT is a basic skills assessment and planning tool to help people prepare for entry level occupations. ESPORT with PLATO Essential Skills Online offers a supported learning program tailored to the occupation you choose.
Essential Skills for Ontario Tradespeople
Category: Essential skills
Studies show that apprentices are eight times more likely to succeed in the trades if they have the essential skills they need. This website helps you build these skills. It gives you the opportunity to: research essential skills for 53 Red Seal trades, take online assessments to see how your skills measure up, and build your skills with customized learning plans using free online materials.
Category: Essential skills
Measure Up is a self-assessment tool available on the TOWES website. Users will have an opportunity to practise three essential skills needed in all types of occupations: reading text of the sort typically found in manuals, training material, product information and regulations; document use that involves the reading of materials in information displays such as maps, forms, schedules, diagrams and catalogues; and numeracy, the use of arithmetic with numbers found in text and documents.
Category: Essential skills
The Ontario Skills Passport is a bilingual web-based resource that provides clear descriptions of the skills and work habits needed for success in the workplace. It is designed to help employers assess and record the skills and work habits learners demonstrate on the job and helps students and job seekers improve their skills and work habits.
Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR)
Category: Essential skills
Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) has defined Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) as the process of identifying, assessing and recognizing skills, knowledge and competencies that have been acquired through work experience, unrecognized training, independent study, volunteer activities and hobbies. Strategies associated with PLAR can be a valuable labour market tool to assist workers-in-transition.
Workplace Informal Learning Matrix (WILM)
Category: Essential skills
The Workplace Informal Learning Matrix (WILM) is a powerful tool to help you measure the complexity of informal learning in your workplace. It consists of a series of specific scales used to capture the opportunity and levels of the essential skills required for a range of job classifications in the workplace. These non-technical skills include communication, problem solving, working with others, decision making, leadership, workplace culture, diversity and continuous learning.
Workforce preparation
Aboriginal Career and Employment Guide
Category: Essential skills
This website by the Aboriginal Multi-Media Society has information on new career opportunities as well as links to key employment resources on the Internet.
Category: Essential skills
Online since 1996, CanadianCareers.com is one of the original career websites for Canadians. The site has information on careers and employment, labour market trends and marketing yourself when looking for a job.
Canadian Information Centre for International Credentials/ Occupational Profiles
Category: Essential skills
This website from CICIC, a unit of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) contains occupational profiles with detailed information about procedures to follow and contacts to make in preparation for practising specific trades and professions in Canada. The site also contains a comprehensive Studying in Canada section with access to all post-secondary education institutions in the country.
Category: Essential skills
The world of work is rapidly changing and employers hire people who can demonstrate their skills and abilities. Whether you are looking for your first or 21st job, the University of Waterloo’s Career Development eManual has been prepared to guide you through the necessary steps.
Certificate in Teaching English as a Second Language Program (CERTESL)
Category: Essential skills
CERTESL is an award-winning independent study program designed and delivered by the Centre for Continuing & Distance Education at Saskatoon’s University of Saskatchewan. Six courses following one stream of study – Teaching English as a Second Language or English as a Foreign Language – must be successfully completed before individuals are awarded the teaching certificate.
Directions for Immigrants in Trades and Professional Careers
Category: Essential skills
This website is a reference tool for skilled immigrants looking to restart their career in regulated professions. It has information about the accreditation process, tips and links to other services and resources in Calgary. Users gain an understanding of what employers are looking for and learn what trades and professions are in demand in Calgary.
Category: Essential skills
Essential skills profiles describe how each of the nine essential skills is used by workers in a particular occupation. Over the past several years, the Government of Canada has conducted research examining the skills people use at work. From this research and through interviews with workers, managers, practitioners and leading researchers, close to 200 essential skills profiles have been developed for various occupations of the National Occupational Classification.
Essential Skills: The Obvious Choice
Category: Essential skills
Through this website, individuals and employers can register for free online assessments specific to plastics and manufacturing. They may also access personalized results reports, learning plans, targeted learning materials and detailed occupational descriptions. The resources are provided by the Canadian Plastics Sector Council and are available to all. If your employer has signed you up already or is planning to do so, do not register here. Use the username and password they give you to log in.
Foreign Credentials Referral Office
Category: Essential skills
Are you thinking of working in Canada? This tool will help you identify the name of your occupation in Canada. It will provide you with a detailed labour market information report, complete with job duties, skill requirements and wage rates, for a chosen location in Canada.
Category: Essential skills
When visiting this website, persons with disabilities have access to job postings and training programs from various employment sectors in Canada and the United States. Handicapemploi helps people with disabilities but also promotes the enterprises that hire disabled workers.
Category: Essential skills
Prince Edward Island workinfonet provides one-stop access to career and labour market information on PEI and other regions of Canada. This site will be useful whether you are setting your course and need career resources and training information or whether you are looking for work.
ITA - Industry Training Authority/Essential Skills
Category: Essential skills
ITA Essential Skills targets women, immigrants and Aboriginal people who are involved with ITA Labour Supply Initiative programs funded through the Labour Market Agreement. This website was created to help people prepare for success in the first two levels of technical training during their apprenticeship. Find out which essential skills you need for your trade, complete an online assessment and get a personalized learning plan.
Category: Essential skills
Learn@Work Week is a week-long celebration that includes a number of activities and events designed to promote the importance of workplace learning and performance to key stakeholders and the public-at-large. Two goals of this initiative are to celebrate the best practices of workplace learning and to celebrate the success of the learning organization.
Manitoba Career Development Decision Making Model
Category: Essential skills
The Decision Making Model has been designed to help guide you through the process of active career planning. Whether you are just starting to plan for your future, wanting to change jobs or looking to advance your career, this model is designed as a tool to assist you with lifelong career development planning.
Category: Essential skills
In addition to its jobs database, Monster.ca has a career centre with tips for writing resumés and acing job interviews. Job seekers will also find information on self-assessment, changing careers and employment law.
Skills/ Compétences Canada (S/CC)
Category: Essential skills
Skills/Compétences Canada (S/CC) is a national, not-for-profit organization that works with employers, educators, labour groups and governments to promote skilled trades and technology careers among Canadian youth. Our unique position among private and public sector partners enables us to work toward securing Canada’s future skilled labour needs while helping our youth to discover rewarding careers.
Category: Essential skills
The Skills Pledge is a voluntary, public commitment by the leadership of a company or organization in the UK to support all its employees to develop their basic skills, including literacy and numeracy, and work towards relevant, valuable qualifications. The purpose is to ensure that all staff persons are skilled, competent and able to make a full contribution to the success of the organization.
Category: Essential skills
Tradeability.ca is a collaborative effort among community partners in Durham Region, funded by the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada. Its goals are to meet current and future market demand for skilled tradespeople in Durham Region and to address the needs through collaborative community action.
Category: Essential skills
Tradesecrets, a website of Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training, is a handy tool for workers with a need for technical training, aboriginal people starting a career journey and anyone just beginning a trade.
Category: Essential skills
This jobs information site from Service Canada allows Canadians to identify and research career opportunities, explore training options and discover their rights and benefits in the workplace. A unique feature of this site is the Career Navigator that outlines career options, available jobs and occupation outlooks.
Category: Essential skills
VoluntaryWorker was formed to offer a unique reference point on the advice needed to find all types of voluntary work. On this site there is information and advice to help you find voluntary work anywhere in the world at any age. Features and articles are written by professional journalists and experts who have a particular interest or a background in this area.
Workforce Initiatives Inventory
Category: Essential skills
The Workforce Initiatives Inventory provides a forum for non-profit organizations to obtain and share information about non-profit workforce initiatives throughout Alberta. A project of the Alberta Non-profit & Voluntary Sector Workforce Council, the inventory is divided into four categories: Human Resources Management, Leadership Development, Information and Research, and Shared Space and Services.
Category: Essential skills
The Working in Canada Tool can help newcomers to Canada make well-informed decisions about where to live and work by producing a report that contains information on job descriptions, wages, skills, language training and job opportunities tailored to their needs.
Category: Essential skills
This job site has a listing of work opportunities throughout Canada and a resource centre with information on subjects that could make finding the ideal career easier. There is information on career management, how to conduct research on industries and companies, and an archive of relevant articles.
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Office of Literacy and Essential Skills.
