National Adult Literacy Database

Authors: Canadian Apprenticeship Forum (FCA)

Collection: Research Materials

This document is based on a study carried out by the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum (CAF) to determine what mechanisms are available to support employers in the hiring and retention of apprentices.

The study involved interviews with provincial and territorial officials at apprenticeship branches and divisions, as well as with participating employers; employers who do not hire apprentices; provincial/territorial sector councils; and employer associations. These findings were supplemented by survey information from the CAF’s Return on Training Investment (ROTI) studies.

The authors note that employers who do not hire apprentices need to be made aware of existing supports. By contrast, employers who hire apprentices are generally satisfied with the supports available and think apprenticeship has great value for their companies.

Both sets of employers provided ideas for other potentially valuable supports, including matching and pre-screening services to create easier access to potential apprentices; background and Essential Skills training for pre-apprentices; ways to recognize prior learning; and trade-specific Essential Skills for the worksite.

Established in 2000, the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum is a federally chartered not-for-profit organization working to influence pan-Canadian apprenticeship strategies and to promote apprenticeship as an effective model for training and education with an overall goal of contributing to the development of a skilled, productive, inclusive and mobile labour force.

Added: 2011-03-22

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• Aides aux employeurs en matière de programmes d'apprentissage au Canada : un survol

Report

Series: Learning Research Series

Authors: Benoit Dostie, Claude Montmarquette

Collection: Research Materials

This report presents a review of studies and articles on employer-sponsored training in Canada. The authors reviewed all documentation that used data from the Workplace and Employee Survey (WES) and, based on that review, have presented a synthesis of the current state of knowledge.

The authors look at training from the perspectives of both the employer and the employee and summarize the results regarding returns on training and their variability across industries, occupations and other characteristics. They also look at barriers to training and the types of training and supports that are provided by the employer.

Added: 2010-10-26

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• La formation parrainée par les employeurs au Canada : Synthèse de la documentation à l'aide de données extraites de l'Enquête sur le milieu de travail et les employés

Authors: Canadian Apprenticeship Forum (CAF)

Collection: Research Materials

This report summarizes information on employers’ hiring practices and attitudes toward apprenticeship, based on surveys completed in February 2011 with employers in the skilled trades from across Canada. The report builds on baseline data obtained by the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum (CAF) in 2006.

The survey results show that employer participation remains steady at 19 per cent, with participation higher among employers who have journeypersons.

Other findings include an improvement in the proportion of employers who indicated that they would be likely to hire an apprentice in the next 12 months; an increase in the average number of apprentices per employer; and an increase in the number of employers who believe in the business case for hiring apprentices.

At the same time, the authors point out that many employers remain unfamiliar with apprenticeship training, even though they are in sectors with trades that have apprenticeship programs.

CAF is a national not-for-profit organization, guided by a board of directors who represent all aspects of the apprenticeship community.

Added: 2011-12-06

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• Les employeurs et l'apprentissage au Canada

Authors: Clarence Lochhead, Canadian Labour and Business Centre

Collection: Research Materials

The research presented in this paper shows that recent immigrant employees are less likely than the Canadian-born to receive employer sponsored training, even after controlling for several job-related factors known to affect the incidence of training. However, two key factors, language and the match between educational attainment and job skill requirements reduce the negative impact of recent immigrant status on training participation rates. This suggests that efforts to address and overcome language-related barriers to training, and to more accurately assess and locate immigrants within jobs commensurate with their human capital would improve their prospects for on-going skills development. At the policy level, it means greater efforts to improve the labour market integration of immigrants through Prior Learning Assessments and official language training initiatives would likely improve immigrant prospects for employer-sponsored training.

Added: 2007-06-22

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Framework for the Research Support Activities of the National Literacy Secretariat, Human Resources Development Canada, A

Series: Policy Conversation Series

Authors: National Literacy Secretariat (NLS)

Collection: Research Materials

Since its inception, the National Literacy Secretariat (NLS) has supported research as one of the important elements in its work to advance literacy in Canada. In light of the 1995 evaluation of the NLS and the February 1997 increase in NLS funding, the Secretariat decided to reassess the focus of its research support activities. This paper is the result of that review and presents the resulting framework for the future of NLS research support activities. The framework is intended to enhance the cooperation between the NLS and its partners to support research itself and to promote the dissemination and application of research results to literacy policy and practice. This framework will guide future NLS efforts to strengthen research and enhance its relevance to the broad goals of both the NLS and the literacy community.

Funders:

Added: 2002-08-01

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• Avancement de la recherche en alphabétisation au Canada

Authors: Yafa Jarrar, Yazmin Hernandez Banuelas

Collection: Research Materials

This document deals with the gaps and challenges faced by literacy programs, services and organizations in the Ontario city of Peterborough.

The authors found that the majority of the participants in the study cited lack of funding as a major gap, one that tended to overlap with other gaps and make them worse.

The authors also found gaps in resources, locations, time, delivery, and public awareness. As well, their research identified the need for better networking, which would include an exchange of resources and improvements to referrals, clientele advocacy and lobbying, and volunteer training.

Added: 2010-06-18

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Summary Report

Authors: Movement for Canadian Literacy

Collection: Research Materials

During the fall of 2007, Movement for Canadian Literacy conducted an environmental scan of the anglophone literacy field in Canada, gathering data through the use of key informant interviews and a literature review. The intent of this scan was to set the stage for a larger study of the sector. It was necessary to conduct this scan because much of the knowledge about literacy work in Canada is informal and anecdotal. There is very little research that provides a comprehensive picture of the literacy field, i.e., on who works in this field, how they got here, what training they receive, what their working conditions are like, whether the work has changed in recent years or is likely to change in the future, and what the field needs to do to prepare for the future.These are the types of questions that this study of the field attempts to answer. For this study the term “literacy sector” included organizations and people who do the work in the sector.

This report includes the following sections:
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Setting the context
- The field of adult literacy in Canada
- Developing the literacy field as a profession
- Conducting the sector study
- Appendices - key informants and interview questions

Added: 2008-06-11

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Authors: Western Canada Workplace Essential Skills Training Network (WWestNet)

Collection: Research Materials

The focus of Essential Skills and the Northern Oil and Gas Workforce was on effective training with a particular emphasis on the role of essential skills enhancement in the development of the northern workforce. It was hoped that this conference would help to raise awareness of essential skills and provide a jumping off point for increased essential skills integration in education and workplace training programs.

Added: 2006-05-05

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Report on a Pilot Project

Authors: Carol MacLeod

Collection: Research Materials

This report describes a pilot project undertaken by the Canadian Trucking Human Resources Council (CTHRC) and the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute (CPPI) to determine whether there might be a correlation between the skill levels that professional petroleum drivers have in reading, document use, and numeracy, and the likelihood of having safety incidents.

Researchers looked at the scores for 231 drivers on the CTHRC’s Test of Workplace Essential Skills – Professional Drivers (TOWES – PD); demographic information collected during testing; and safety performance data for these drivers.

The findings indicate that there is a correlation between Essential Skills proficiency and the likelihood of having safety incidents, with professional drivers who did not meet or exceed the upper end of the reading standard being 1.58 times more likely to have had an incident than those who did meet the standard. Those who did not meet the established standard for document use were 1.69 times more likely to have had an incident than those who did meet the standard.

The author points out that given the costs associated with safety problems, there is a business case for industry investment in Essential Skills assessment and upgrading.

Funders:

Added: 2012-11-16

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• Les compétences essentielles : un indice du rendement sécurité parmi les conducteurs professionnels du secteur du pétrole accrédités par l'ICCP en Alberta

Project Report

Authors: Goforth Consulting

Collection: Research Materials

The "Essential Skills for Successful Transition to Further Training Project" (Essential Skills Project) builds upon a large-scale, ongoing academic upgrading initiative involving Ontario's 24 colleges.

For several years, the CSC has focused on the successful transition of Ontario Basic Skills (OBS) and Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) students to further college training as required by their chosen career path. The primary goal of most students in college academic upgrading programs is postsecondary training.

The CSC conducted an extensive review of the outcomes necessary to ensure the continued access of OBS and LBS college graduates to further college training. This review went beyond merely gaining access to further training. It examined factors that ensured student success at the next stage of training. It also included an examination of the outcomes of those students graduating from the new secondary school curriculum to ensure that graduates of college upgrading programs were able to demonstrate the same outcomes.

The review process contributed to the development of the ACE Program, approved for delivery in July 2004 at all 24 colleges by the Colleges Branch of MTCU. ACE is a Grade 12 Equivalent program. It is the level of programming generally accepted by colleges for admission to college-level, postsecondary programs and apprenticeship.

Added: 2005-11-14

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