Government of Canada invests in skills development and work experience programming

March 12, 2010

CALGARY -- Canadians with low literacy will benefit from federal funding for projects that will help them develop the skills needed to participate in the job market. Mr. Lee Richardson, Member of Parliament for Calgary Centre, made the announcement today on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development.

“Our government is working in partnership to provide programming that will improve Canadians’ employability skills, knowledge and work experience, so they can get jobs and build better futures,” said Mr. Richardson. “Our Economic Action Plan is supporting Bow Valley College in its efforts to help Canadians develop the skills they need to succeed.”

Bow Valley College will receive over $1.6 million for three projects through the Career Focus program and the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills.

“We’re delighted to work with the federal government on these three exciting initiatives,” said Ms. Sharon Carry, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bow Valley College. “Diverse communities of learners across the country will benefit from our strengths in essential skills, applied research and employment assistance services.”

In today’s environment, it is more important than ever that all youth develop the skills they need to participate and succeed in the job market. The Career Focus project, Connections to the Workplace, will enable Bow Valley College to help post-secondary graduates enhance and develop their employment skills.

Two additional projects are being funded through the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills. The first will provide a clearer picture of literacy rates of Aboriginal adults in Canada, so that literacy and essentials skills programming can better meet the needs of its participants, the workplace and the community. The second project will develop an assessment and diagnostic tool to help literacy instructors improve their teaching effectiveness and place learners in programs that best suit their needs.

Improving Canadians’ literacy and essential skills and providing them with valuable work experience that will help them succeed in the labour market are key elements of the Government’s commitment to creating the best educated, most skilled and most flexible workforce in the world.

Our government underscored this commitment in Canada’s Economic Action Plan. A key component of the Plan is to create more opportunities for Canadian workers through skills development. Budget 2010 provides further investments to support young people looking to gain skills and experience, including an additional $30 million for the Career Focus component of the Youth Employment Strategy.

The Following are remarks made by MP Lee Richardson at a funding announcement for Bow Valley College

Thank you. I am very happy to be here today with the President of Bow Valley College Sharon Carry and on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, who sends her best wishes.

I would like to begin by commending our friends from Bow Valley College.

For more than 45 years, you have been living up to your vision statement by being an innovative, world-class college that’s rooted in your community.

You’re making a great contribution by enabling people to “Learn a Better Living”.

You take a very effective approach to all of your programming.

You work with people to give them the tools they need to succeed.

Through your tireless efforts, you make a world of difference.

And, as educators, you know that acquiring stronger literacy and essential skills — or broadening your knowledge and experience — brings many benefits to adult learners.

It can make their lives better in every way.

At the very least, improving literacy and essential skills gives people greater self-confidence — and that is often the first step to success.

Literacy and essential skills are crucial to the health and well-being of Canadians.

Better literacy and essential skills also improve their employment prospects and their incomes.

This kind of training gives learners the opportunity to fully participate in the workplace and in our society. 

Our government understands how vital that mission is.

To help achieve this goal, the Government of Canada is helping to ensure that Canadians have the literacy and essential skills they need to participate fully in the labour market and in their communities.

Literacy and essential skills are important elements of our commitment to fostering the best educated, most skilled and most flexible workforce in the world.

The Government underscored this commitment when we introduced Canada’s Economic Action Plan.

A key component of the Plan is to create more opportunities for Canadian workers through skills development.

This will ensure that all workers are ready for the jobs available today, and have the skills and training they need for the jobs of tomorrow.

As I said, I am inspired by the contributions that Bow Valley College makes in Calgary and throughout southern Alberta.

I am proud to be part of a government that is working with you to make a difference in the lives of Canadians.

This is why I am pleased to announce that we are investing more than $1.6 million in three projects being undertaken by Bow Valley College.

Two of the projects are being funded through the Adult Learning, Literacy and Essential Skills Program.

The first will give us a clearer picture of adult Aboriginal literacy rates in Canada.

This will provide programming that can better meet the needs of learners, the workplace and the community.

The second project will develop an assessment and diagnostic tool to help literacy instructors place learners in the program that best suits their needs and improve their teaching effectiveness.

The third project, being funded through the Career Focus Program, will help young post-secondary graduates gain career-related, hands-on expertise in their chosen fields of study.

The goal is to help these young people make the successful transition from school to work.

Our Government is working in partnership to provide programming that will improve Canadians’ employability skills, knowledge and work experience so they can get jobs and build better futures.

In today’s economic environment, it is more important than ever that people have the skills they need to participate in the job market.

And when Canadians have the chance to upgrade their skills, broaden their knowledge, and gain experience, they are more likely to succeed.

This is always true.

Our government looks forward to working with Bow Valley College.

Together, we can help the people of Canada build on the promise of opportunity.

Thank you.



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q.How much funding is HRSDC providing?
A.HRSDC is providing Bow Valley College with $1,535,498 ($1,341,677 and $193,821) for two projects funded through the Adult Learning, Literacy and Essential Skills Program. The first project, A Market Segmentation View of the Aboriginal Literacy Market, will complete a market-segmentation data analysis of the literacy outcomes of Aboriginal populations in Canada over a 12 month period. This analysis will provide empirical evidence of the extent to which low literacy levels disadvantage Aboriginal communities. This project will be delivered in partnership with Literacy Alberta and the NWT Literacy Council. 

The later project, Learning to Read (LtR) Assessment Battery, will be delivered over a 36 month period. Through this project, Bow Valley College will develop and validate a comprehensive suite of literacy assessment tools to enable the design and delivery of more targeted and responsive literacy interventions. The tools can be used by literacy and adult education (ABE) instructors in a wide variety of programs.

Bow Valley College is also receiving $150,293 through the Career Focus program, which links highly skilled, post-secondary youth with potential employers that can provide them with career-related work experiences to help them acquire advanced employment skills and facilitate their transition into the rapidly changing labour market.

Q.What is the goal of the Learning to Read project?
A.    Learning to Read will provide literacy instructors, including English as a Second Language and adult-based education instructors, with a tool that allows them to classify learners with low levels of literacy into the appropriate groups and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of instruction.

Q.    What is the goal of the A Market Segmentation View of the Aboriginal Literacy Market project?
A.    To provide a clearer picture of adult Aboriginal literacy rates in Canada that will allow for the development of literacy interventions that are better targeted to the needs of the participants, the workplace and the community as it will show:
− where the individual literacy rates are most likely to be low;
− where the labour market demand for literacy skills rates is high;
− industries and occupations in which aboriginal adults tend to be employed; and
− the degree of compatibility


Q.    What is the goal of the Connections to the Workforce project?
A.    To assist 15 youth (who are a mixture of Francophone and Anglophone, between the ages of 15 and 30, and who are post secondary graduates) gain advanced employability skills, knowledge and work experience related to their chosen field of study. This project will enable the participants to transition smoothly into the labour market.

Q.What else is the Government of Canada doing with regards to literacy and essential skills training?
A.     Through the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills, we are working with partners across Canada to ensure that literacy and essential skills are integrated into existing training that will help Canadians get jobs and build better futures. Our Government also introduced Canada’s Economic Action Plan which includes measures to stimulate the economy, create jobs and protect Canadians during the global recession. This includes measures to create more and better opportunities for Canadians through skills development. Further to this, our Government now has Labour Market Agreements in place with all provinces and territories. These agreements may be used to fund activities for those with low levels of literacy and essential skills.


Backgrounder

About the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills
The Government of Canada created the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills as a centre of expertise to help increase the literacy and essential skills of adult Canadians.

While Canada currently faces economic uncertainty, skills shortages remain a significant challenge. With a budget of $36 million in 2009–2010, the Government of Canada—through the Office of Literacy and Essential Skills—is investing to ensure that Canadians have the literacy and essential skills they need to participate fully in the labour market and in their communities.

About the Career Focus program
As part of the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment Strategy, the Career Focus program is one of three programs that help young Canadians, particularly those facing barriers to employment, obtain career information, develop skills, gain work experience, find good jobs and stay employed. The other two programs are Summer Work Experience and Skills Link.
Career Focus links highly skilled, post-secondary youth with potential employers who can provide them with career-related work experience and help them acquire advanced employment skills to facilitate their transition into the rapidly changing labour market.

About the organization
With more than 11,000 full- and part-time students, Bow Valley College is a leader in health and business career training, academic upgrading programs for adults, and English as a second language education. The College provides a wide range of services for businesses and professionals, including the Test of Workplace Essential Skills (TOWES), workplace training for immigrants and employment services.