Employability Skills

The Can Do Statements for Employment are intended for immigrants seeking employment, employment counsellors, and employers. The Can Do Statements are based on the Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB); they have been simplified and given a narrower focus to support their use in an employment context. The statements cover CLB levels 4–10, and offer an overview of each level from a workplace perspective. They provide examples of English-language tasks in a variety of workplace-related contexts:

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These seven workbooks in this series were developed to introduce learners to the Essential Skills required by all workers in Canada. The Essential Skills have been aligned to the CLBs. The workbooks will introduce instructors to the Essential Skills and they could be used as workbooks for later stage 2 learners.

This resource includes vocabulary and contextual information for occupations, including airline, hotel, food & beverage, nursing, police, cashiers, tour guides, taxi. Some audio available.

Essential Skills Profiles are available for most occupations in Canada. Each profile lists job tasks in nine Essential Skills and rates them at 1–5 levels of competency.

Essential Skills Assessments are clearly written checklists for students to use to assess their skills. There is one for each of the nine Essential Skills.
Essential Skills Online Assessments is a series of short quizzes provide an indication of skill strengths and areas that may require improvement.

List of Tools: Tools, assessment and support information for trainers and career counsellors.

Manitoba Resources includes curriculum for pharmacists, health care aid and entrepreneurs with an Essential Skills focus.

Learner Materials: A Strategy for Writing Tests, Navigating Workplace Documents and Numeracy.

Vocabulary Building Workbook includes 24 lessons to help students increase Canadian workplace vocabulary.

This free educational website houses 2,000 lessons for a global audience, covering 180 topics, primarily designed to improve technology skills for learners of all ages. There are tutorials to improve knowledge of Microsoft Office, iPads and other devices, and how to use social media. In addition, there are lessons in the Essential Skills of reading and mathematics, and English language learning.

The English language feature for ESL students is suitable for intermediate/high level learners. The lessons are for grammar, reading skills. Instructions are available in several languages, including Arabic, Spanish, Chinese and Korean. The lessons have video and interactive features as well. Teacher guides and resources are available, and instructors can customize lessons.

Guided Pathways: Integrating Essential Skills is a five-year project funded by the Government of Canada. An online training workshop designed to equip career development practitioners with tools to assess client needs and provide more effective pathways to gainful employment will be delivered to 900 career development practitioners across Canada.

There is a workbook and an online course for newcomers hoping to find a job in food processing occupations.  The course provides instruction in job skills, job-specific language, vocabulary and pronunciation, Canadian workplace culture, workplace documents, and health and safety. This is a joint-project of the Alberta government and Alberta Workforce Essential Skills (AWES); it is open to all newcomers to Canada.

Category

A Career Survival Guide for New Immigrants. Book: 200 pages.

Contents include career assessment, marketing yourself, Canadian workplace culture, values, and expectations.

Published 2011, 2nd edition  by WCS Publisher.

Available through bookstores. ISBN: 9780981310404

For more information see: https://www.mcgill.ca/caps/no-canadian-experience-eh-career-success-guide-new-immigrants-2nd-ed

Developed by Kingston Literacy and Skills, this manual includes 12 interactive training videos that demonstrate the skills and language required in the small business workplace.

This 66-page workbook is intended for internationally trained individuals who have arrived in Canada or are considering moving to the country. It is designed to help with research before or upon arrival. The chapters provide concise information, and lots of space for note taking with headings and guiding questions to assist the newcomer.

There are five sections, written at an intermediate level, that cover the following topics:

  1. Living in Canada: links to provincial and territorial governments and immigrant-serving organizations, housing, finding a school, important documents and money.
  2. Improving your English or French: government-funded classes.
  3. Finding a job: information on regulated and non-regulated professions, skills and training information, starting one’s own business.
  4. Work-related documents: gathering, sending, translating papers.
  5. Educational and academic credentials: educational upgrading or completing a training program.

Free access: www.cic.gc.ca/english/pdf/pub/workbook-national.pdf

This curriculum has been developed by the Prince Edward Learning Centre and Literacy Link Eastern Ontario. It is ideal for learners planning to work in retail, such as in a grocery or clothing store. The 7-module course covers the Essential Skills, including language, needed in retail occupations.

There are two large collections on Tutela relating to employment. While not all have been reviewed, it is an excellent starting point for developing workplace/workforce curriculum.  Free to join. Must register then search Tutela Collections.

  1. Employment Curriculum:
    1. Essential Skills
    2. General Employment Curriculum
    3. Sector Specific Curriculum
  1. Employment Teaching Resources:
    1. Assessment Tools
    2. Module Planning
    3. Teaching Resources
    4. CLEO Employment Rights Lesson Plans
    5. Lesson Plans for NOC Classifications
    6. Language for Work Series Lesson Plans