Lifelong learning through a strong, policy-supported information technology (IT) infrastructure is critical to the success of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies. There is a great need to upgrade the quality of skills within the workforce, and there have been unprecedented investments in infrastructure and advanced…

The key to economic and social development lies in the knowledge and skill base of human capital. This report, presented to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance, calls for vigorous action on the part of the Government of Canada, in concert with the provinces and territories, to protect the Canadian economy from a skills shortage…

This article cites six sources which present planning and implementation strategies for major government-sponsored training programs. These federal programs were designed to allocate funds to modernize training facilities and to provide employment skills for the hard-to-employ youth in six European and Asian nations. (SSH)

Examines Canadian historians' treatment of social class and the working class. Working class studies can be classified into three types--the academic, governmental, and political--and three periods--the 1880s to 1929, 1929 to the end of World War II, and the Cold War. A renaissance in working class studies characterizes the 1960s. (Author/KC)

Describes Alberta's registered apprenticeship plan (RAP), a three-year program in which students spend part of their time in school and part in industry as a registered apprenticeship. Compares RAP to the federal youth apprenticeship proposed in the United States and the European model. (JOW)

Discusses resources for students and teachers about working class and labor studies. Books, journals, slides, films, filmstrips, and recordings are listed under the topics of contemporary issues about work and the workplace, and Canadian unions. (KC)

Describes the implementation of Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) at many educational institutions across Canada. Suggests that PLA should be incorporated into every skills training and upgrading program. (JOW)

Based on personal ethnographic experience of "becoming the phenomenon" of migrant laborer in Canada's postsecondary education system, critically examines three anthropological perspectives--the neoclassical, the historical structuralist, and the neo-Marxist--on labor migration. Argues that both migrant laborers and sessional lecturers…

Presents highlights of a panel discussion on workplace literacy at the Literacy in the 21st Century Research Conference (Edmonton, Alberta, October 1997). Participants from business, government, and university discussed Syncrude Canada's Workplace Literacy Program, implications of the International Adult Literacy Survey for the labor market, and…

Skilled labor is one of the major requirements for economic growth. It is one of the major constraints on industrial expansion and diversification. Meeting the need for skilled labor in the 1980s is a challenge that demands a concerted effort by the national and provincial governments, educators, business, and labor. (Author)

Presents a scheme for the development and implementation of an effective counseling program for manpower trainees and adults in similar programs. Describes a competency-based curriculum for the training of Canada Employment Centre (CEC) counselors developed by the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission. (JOW)

The author observes that we are in a period in which unemployment is coupled with the shortage of skilled manpower. The response to these concerns must involve improved manpower planning between public and private sectors. (JOW)

The growing dominance of the creative economy challenges cities and regions to move beyond the impulse toward "big ticket" economic development strategies like stadiums and convention centres and consider increased support for community-level strategies that encourage social and cultural diversity. Vibrant street scenes, eclectic…

The widespread problem of functional illiteracy within Canadian labor has been addressed recently by a number of agencies and the press. In times of economic difficulty the outlook is bleak but not hopeless, and the issue must now be kept before the public to encourage effective action. (MSE)

Human resource investments are increasingly viewed as critical to the process of human development. In the future, a country's competitiveness in the world market will depend upon the quality of its human resources--knowledge, learning, information, and skilled intelligence. (JOW)