The federal government tabled its long-awaited budget on Tuesday, November 4, 2025 - Budget 2025 I reviewed the document to see what it might hold for literacy, training, and skills development. Not surprisingly, there is no mention of literacy, essential skills, or Skills for Success. Beyond the Labour Market Transfer Agreements, the federal government has not prioritized these areas in recent years.

I’m excited to share some great news for everyone in the plain and clear language community: Accessibility Standards Canada has officially published a Plain Language Standard! Accessibility Standards Canada develops standards to prevent, identify, and remove barriers to accessibility within the federal government and federally regulated private sector organizations. It is one of the accredited standards development organizations coordinated by the Standards Council of Canada.

Today, September 8th, International Literacy Day, a group of 63 literacy organizations in Canada have submitted The Case for a National Literacy Strategy to Prime Minister Carney, federal Cabinet ministers and appropriate provincial and territorial government ministers. The Case for a National Literacy StrategyDownload

On the occasion of International Literacy Day, Canada’s Premiers today announced the recipients of the 21st annual Council of the Federation Literacy Award. Presented in each province and territory, the Award celebrates exceptional achievement, innovative practice, and excellence in literacy. The recipients of the 2025 Council of the Federation Literacy Award are: Hinton Adult Learning Society — AlbertaFriends of Simon — British Columbia…

For Americans about Ukraine

When PIAAC was released last year, one suggestion for the lower literacy scores was the reduction in the number of people reading books. Somehow, reading short texts, online had reduced people's literacy scores. While this is a likely proposition, we've not seen any research to verify it. But I recently came upon an article by Jonathan Jarry M.Sc., The Reading Crisis…

United for Literacy (Formerly Frontier College) has embarked on a major research study on the Root Causes of Low Literacy in Canada. Currently, there is a request for proposals to conduct the research project. A letter of interest (3 - 5 pages) is due August 19, 2025. United for Literacy is seeking professional services to conduct an 18-month research project (October 2025 – March 2027) exploring the root causes of low literacy and identifying strategies to better support underrepresented groups in the labour market, between October 2025 and March 2027.

Canada’s workplace literacy and adult education field lost one of its pioneers last week with the passing of Sue Turner. In the early 1990s, Devon Gaber, Manitoba’s official responsible for literacy and I were searching for a way to capitalize on interest shown by business and labour in mounting programs. We came up with the idea to create a non-governmental group which could be funded by the National Literacy Secretariat where I worked.

In recent years, getting together in person is a rare event. I wanted to share with you two in-person events that are certain to provide a top-notch experience. There is still time to register for …

The Future Skills Centre recently announced the results of its latest call for proposals. Funded were 35 projects totaling $7.6 million in funding. The projects address workforce development and la…

My friends at COFA (Coalition ontarienne de formation des adultes) generously offered to translate my paper, Initial Thoughts – 2023 Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) Results into French. You'll find it below. You can read my original paper here: PIAAC 2023 - Survey of Adult Skills released - my thoughts Please note: the eagle-eyed translator noticed an error in my original paper. Both the French version and the one referenced above have been updated. brigid-hayes-initial-thoughts-2023-piaac-december-11-2024 FR-1Download

A giant in the field of adult education has passed away. I first met Paul Bélanger in the late 1970s when we were involved with the Coalition of National Voluntary Organizations. I had the pleasure of working with him in the preparation of From the Adult's Point of View, in 1982. Our paths continued to intertwine through the years especially on the subject of literacy and workplace skills.

A recent conversation sent me searching for a report from a consultation I was involved in many years ago. In 2008, the Canadian Council on Learning’s Adult Learning Knowledge Centre and the Work a…

A recent conversation sent me searching for a report from a consultation I was involved in many years ago. In 2008, the Canadian Council on Learning’s Adult Learning Knowledge Centre and the Work and Learning Knowledge Centre hosted Reaching for the Tipping Point in Literacy. It brought together 80 participants from literacy movement, community-based organizations, business, labour, policymakers, and researchers.

Canada has over 5 million people who struggle with literacy, numeracy and problem solving[1]. Here’s what your governments and institutions are doing in response: NWT’s Aurora College announced on January 23, it was shutting down its 19 community learning centres by the end of June. The centres, located in remote and fly-in communities, have provided Adult Literacy and Basic Education courses for the last 25 years.

PGFL Grants Program AnnouncementDownload

People have been talking about the digital divide for some time now. Initially, the divide was depicted as those who have access to computers versus those who do not. But as the pervasiveness of online interactions as opposed to in-person or via the phone or post grows, so does the digital divide affect far more people, even those with access to computers.

Recently I was sent this article about a PIAAC related research project led by the University of Hamburg and UNESCOs Institute for Life Long Learning. The work will investigate the specific mechanisms underlying literacy-related discrimination. I can't say that I've ever seen work in this area before. Certainly a project to keep an eye on. Read about it here: Launch of new research project: "Under Pressure: Literacy and Discrimination"

Empowering Voices Workshop Poster- Ottawa -FinalDownload

Empowering Voices Workshop Poster- Ottawa -FinalDownload

The OECD released the latest Survey of Adult Skills on December 10, 2024. This is the latest in a series of four international surveys looking at literacy and numeracy. After attending the launch and an OECD webinar, and reading through the reports and accompanying material, I'd like to share my initial thoughts. As you can imagine, I've not read every word of the reports and so please forgive any errors or omissions. Brigid Hayes - Initial Thoughts - 2023 PIAAC - December 11, 2024Download

The 2nd Cycle of PIAAC (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies), the Survey of Adult Skills, will be released on Tuesday December 10, 2024. The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) will release the data at 11:00 CET (Central European Time) with an online launch of the international results. Later in the day at 15:00 CET, Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills at the OECD, will lead a webinar “The state of adult skills: Key takeaways from the OECD Survey of Adult Skills.”