• Many of the people we interviewed expressed a need for more funding for transitional training that will enable low-skilled workers – in the resource sector as well as other sectors – to gain the skills to move onto better-paying, higher-skilled jobs.

• In one community we visited, a locally owned mill that does not require grade 12 in its hiring practices put new recruits through an orientation program – and described it as a nonthreatening way of upgrading their skills and of screening out applicants who are not likely to succeed.

• Throughout the consultation we heard that workers often don’t have the interpersonal skills and lifeskills that are crucial to the success of upgrading and transition programs. These have to be integrated into the training.

• We need to do a better job of developing training programs that fit the jobs the community actually has. We need to determine where there are skills shortages and then develop programs to fill them – on a community level.

Workplace Learning Strategies…

“Teach in the workplace itself; it has to be related to work to make learning meaningful.” – Union Representative in the Supplemental Business/Labour Telephone Survey

“There was a move to combine literacy training and skills training, but it was found that clients needed to have a basic level of literacy before they can even commence work.” – Community Development Worker during Consultation

“I hope that employers would assist willing employees to develop competencies. This will help with employee satisfaction and in turn employee retention.” – Participant in the Workforce Literacy Practitioner Survey

“Business needs to recognize workers who gain skills are beneficial to them too. Everyone needs basic skills so they can improve their lives and society.” – Union Representative in the Supplemental Business/Labour Telephone Survey

“The opportunity to gain basic skills in pubic schools is necessary for everyone to have a chance. Employers should pay money to improve their workforce. It’s like buying and maintaining machinery, in a way.” – Employer in the Supplemental Business/Labour Telephone Survey

• The Contract Training and Marketing (CTM) Society – which is a college networking system that primarily looks for and responds to requests for proposals for industry training contracts – told us that basic skills hasn’t come up as an issue, and that serving needs for literacy and community development is not their main focus. (Note that CTM is now defunct.)

• A number of the business people we spoke with during the consultation referred to “skills shortages” as a significant issue. Some of them saw a connection between this issue and the need for basic skills upgrading – and some did not. The focus of the local Chambers ofCommerce we spoke with, for example, was on e-commerce, human resource training, marketing, energy conservation, and computer skills.