Essential Skills are the skills needed for work, learning and life. They provide the foundation for learning all other skills and enable people to evolve with their jobs and adapt to workplace change. They were developed by Human Resource and Skills Development Canada.
Through extensive research, the Government of Canada and other national and international agencies have identified and validated nine Essential Skills. These skills are used in nearly every occupation and throughout daily life in different ways and at different levels of complexity.
These skills are important to both students and their parents because the emphasis and prominence of each skill is different for each career path.
9 Essential Skills
- Reading Text
- Document Use
- Writing
- Numeracy
- Thinking Skills
- Oral Communication
- Working with Others
- Computer Use
- Continuous Learning
Each of these skills has a specific set of criteria which can be measured at different levels of competency. The essential skills are embedded within all of our courses at Mackenzie.
Essential Skills & W. L. Mackenzie CI
W.L.Mackenzie CI is part of a pilot project to highlight the Essential Skills within each subject area. Through the program, students and parents are becoming more aware of their importance in today’s job market.
National Occupational Classification
Approximately 250 Essential Skills profiles have been developed for various occupations of the National Occupational Classification. To date, profiles have been completed for all occupations requiring a high school education or less. Research is ongoing to complete occupations requiring university, college or apprenticeship training.
Each occupational profile includes: A brief description of the occupation, alist of the most important Essential Skills, examples of tasks that illustrate how each Essential Skill is applied, complexity ratings that indicate the level of difficulty, the physical aspects of performing the job and the attitudes that workers feel are needed to do the job well, and future trends affecting Essential Skills.
These profiles can be used to help students and parents: learn more about the skills you need in various occupations, develop workplace training programs, learning plans, or job descriptions, investigate career options, and, create educational tools to enhance skills development.