Essential Skills Day Fact Sheet

What is Essential Skills Day? Essential Skills Day (ESD), which takes place on September 21, 2012, raises awareness and celebrates the importance of the nine essential skills as defined by the government of Canada. Essential skills are needed for work, learning and life and are the foundation for learning all other skills. These skills are used in nearly every job and throughout daily life in different ways and at varying levels of complexity.

What are the nine essential skills?

Reading Document use Numeracy Writing Oral communication Working with others Thinking Computer use Continuous learning

Why are essential skills important? Improving the essential skills of workers has tremendous impact for both the employee and employer, including higher retention rates, improved safety and increased productivity. Employees who participate in literacy and essential skills programs increase their level of self-confidence, acquire new skills, are better prepared to seek promotion opportunities, and believe that they are valued by their workplaces.

Celebrating Essential Skills Day Essential Skills Day is a perfect opportunity to inform employees and executives about the importance of the essential skills. Every job requires different essential skills and at varying levels, but you can still celebrate Essential Skills Day and raise awareness about all of them. To find which essential skills are most important for your employees, check out the essential skills profiles: http://www10.hrsdc.gc.ca/es/English/SearchMain.aspx

Visit www.EssentialSkillsDay.ca for information and ideas on how you can celebrate.