Canadian Council on Learning (CCL)

This document is the result of consultations carried out in Atlantic Canada during the first half of 2008 by the Adult Learning Knowledge Centre (AdLKC). The consultations sought advice from five communities – people with disabilities, Aboriginal, African-Canadian, Francophone and immigrants – about the problems they faced and the potential solutions they envisioned.

This annual survey provides a look at Canadians’ opinions, beliefs and experiences with learning across the lifespan. The 2008 edition covers four learning domains: early childhood learning; structured learning at the elementary, secondary and post-secondary levels; work-related adult learning; and health-related learning.

This report is the culmination of a series of initiatives launched by the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) and its Aboriginal Learning Knowledge Centre, in partnership with Aboriginal learning experts, community practitioners and researchers from more than 70 organizations and governments.

Six out of 10 Canadians, or 60 per cent of the population, lack the skills needed to adequately manage their health-care needs. By comparison, 48 per cent of Canadians have low levels of literacy in general.

Over the past few decades, Canada’s labour requirements have changed drastically — from a need for physical labourers to a need for knowledge workers — as a result of changes in economic and social conditions that have included advances in information and communication technologies, globalization of economic activity and shifting demographics.

This document presents an overview of how well equipped Canadians are as learners to meet the needs of the future. The authors state that while Canada has an enviable system of formal education, Canadians could benefit from a wider range of learning opportunities to sustain economic well-being and achieve greater social equity.

The Composite Learning Index (CLI) is an annual measure of Canada’s progress in lifelong learning.

As the world struggles with the uncertainty of a major economic downturn, the need to ensure that Canadians have the right skills and knowledge for a sustainable economy is suddenly crucial. Post-secondary education (PSE) plays a key role in developing people’s potential and cultivating Canada’s human infrastructure.

This report contains the highlights and key findings of a two-day bilingual roundtable discussion on how to achieve improvements in the area of literacy, held in Ottawa in February, 2008. The roundtable brought together more than 80 policy-makers, researchers, and representatives from the literacy movement, community-based organizations, business, and labour.

This report by the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) is a follow-up to the Council's 2007 State of Learning in Canada report, which discussed the findings of the International Adult Literacy Survey. In this report, the Council addresses some of the key issues identified in the State of Learning report, such as the social and economic barriers behind Canada's literacy rates and potential barriers to learning.