Essential Skills Awareness Program

CONNECT partnered with the Quality Continuous Improvement Centre for Community Education & Training (QCICCET) on this Essential Skills Awareness project, funded by Human Resources and Social Development Canada, in 2008-2009. The project enhanced awareness of Essential Skills among employers in several provinces, including Ontario. CONNECT and the colleges have an established track record in employer outreach, and CONNECT holds the Ontario license for the Test of Workplace Essential Skills (TOWES) on behalf of a 23-college consortium. With this strong background in mind, CONNECT agreed to assist QCICCET by promoting their Essential Skills for the Changing Workforce seminars among the colleges and with business and industry.

CONNECT’s role involved consultation with QCICCET project staff; and the establishment of appropriate linkages with college staff engaged in TOWES projects for information sharing and the discussion of best practices. CONNECT also helped identify employers who may have been in need of Essential Skills assessments, assisted with the employer awareness campaign and acted as Evaluation lead with a plan that surveyed the take-up of tools used by employers and measured outcomes. Several colleges committed to hosting the seminars to increase employer awareness regarding the benefits of Essential Skills upgrading.

Please contact us for further information about these or other past CONNECT projects.