Essential Skills

What are Essential Skills?

Essential Skills are the fundamental skills that make it possible to learn all others. They are enabling skills that help people participate fully in the workplace and in the community. They are:

Reading Text
Document Use
Numeracy
Writing
Oral Communication
Working with Others
Thinking Skills
Computer Use
Continuous Learning

The Government of Canada has conducted extensive research on how these skills are used in the workplace by interviewing more than 4,000 workers across Canada. As a result, close to 200 occupational profiles have been developed which describe the use of Essential Skills in different occupations. In addition, a collection of Authentic Workplace Materials has been gathered to illustrate how skills such as Reading Text, Document Use and Writing are actually used in Canadian workplaces.

Essential Skills and Workplace Literacy Initiative

Launched on April 1, 2003, the Essential Skills and Workplace Literacy Initiative helps to ensure Canadians have the right skills for changing work and life demands. Its goal is to enhance the skill levels of Canadians who are entering -or are already in - the workforce. The Initiative does this by increasing awareness and understanding of Essential Skills, supporting the development of tools and applications, building on existing research, and working with other Government of Canada programs.

Essential Skills Can Help

Essential Skills provides occupational based information to help:

Students and Workers explore the skills needed for various occupations
Parents build their children's confidence in their skills
Teachers show students the relevance of what they are learning to the demands of the workplace
Career counsellors help clients investigate career options
Curriculum developers and Trainers use real workplace applications for classroom instruction
Employers develop job descriptions, workplace training programs or decide what skills to seek when recruiting.

For more information, please visit the Essential Skills website.