The economic pressures of this past year were deeply felt by Calgarians. Even a routine trip to the grocery store became a source of stress due to rising prices. Now, consider the added impact on many of our neighbours who faced rising costs while also:

• • Earning minimum wage in Alberta ($15/hour), which is 61% of the living wage ($24.45/hour), forcing difficult choices between essentials like food and bills.
  • Paying bills without the security of stable employment.
  • Struggling with gaps in literacy, numeracy, language, and digital skills—making it harder to access services, manage daily life, or find (and keep) meaningful work.
  • Experiencing stress from these complex challenges, and having it take a toll on their mental health and confidence.

These neighbours are the adults Calgary Learns ultimately supports through program grants, professional development, and advocacy. Our mandate is to enable learning opportunities for adults helps to mitigate the economic reality facing our community.  Literacy and education are powerful tools in the fight against poverty. When adults build foundational skills, the benefits ripple outward—strengthening families, communities, and the broader economy.

Highlights of 2024 – A Year of Strengthening Pathways

It is always an honour to work alongside our partners and stakeholders to support adults in our community who are striving to address their unmet foundational learning needs.  Together, we strengthen pathways forward, which this year included:

1. Transition of GED to CAEC

In May 2024, the General Education Diploma (GED) program transitioned to the Canadian Adult Education Credential (CAEC). The transition was bumpy nationwide due to poor communication and inadequate resources for both learners and program providers.

During this period, Calgary Learns’ long-standing, grant-funded pre-GED program, Never Too Late, was sunsetted. At the same time, options for adult upgrading at post-secondary institutions became increasingly limited due to cuts to provincial Foundational Learning Assistance funding.

To support adults in achieving their foundational learning goals, we collaborated with community stakeholders to address this program gap. Through the process, we were pleased when CanLearn stepped forward to develop and deliver CAEC prep programs.

With support from a Calgary Learns program grant and a generous contribution from the Flanagan Foundation, CanLearn has been able to offer strong programming and assist students facing financial barriers by covering CAEC exam fees.

2. Indigenous Consultation – Continuing our Pathway

Reconciliation is an ongoing journey. In 2024, Calgary Learns engaged in an in-depth conversation within the Indigenous community. We appreciate the generosity of the twenty Elders and Indigenous Knowledge Keepers who shared insights on how best to support the foundational learning needs of Indigenous adults. The resulting consultation report, which will guide future work, was validated in Ceremony led by Elder Wanda First Rider. We continue to strive to be a ‘relational ally’, a term used by Elder Kerrie Moore to describe ‘allies who take meaningful action’.

“Indigenous adults often carry a belief that they ‘will never be successful in academics’…it is important to experience success at learning in order to believe that setting learning goals is possible”

“Non-Indigenous practitioners need to be prepared and supported to become more knowledgeable about Indigenous Learning Principles and settler and Indigenous histories, and to truly hear the stories that Indigenous learners bring to programs. Organizations that want to create safe and welcoming spaces for Indigenous adult learners need to know how to provide trauma-informed support and training for Indigenous and non-Indigenous practitioners who are working this way. 

Excerpts from “Consultations with Calgary’s Indigenous Community”, Calgary Learns, 2024

3. Strengthening Partnerships

As a granting CALP, our work is made possible through strong partnerships. Open communication and working in relationship are at the heart of how we fulfill our mandate to support the unmet foundational learning needs of adult Calgarians. In this spirit, we are grateful to the programs we fund for welcoming us during site visits. These visits gave us valuable, firsthand insight into both the needs of learners and the challenges organizations face. What we learned during these visits played a crucial role in strengthening our ability to advocate for the sector.

Our annual gathering, themed “Looking Forward,” focused on supporting grant-funded Calgary Learns organizations to make a strong, clear case for their programs.  We launched a new grant resource document to help organizations write their 2025-26 program applications during an anticipated competitive year. The gathering also provided an opportunity for practitioners to network and exchange ideas, helping them develop improved learning pathways for their students.

“Always great to engage with the Calgary Learns team, the connection with other providers and learning about their successes and challenges, and the information provided by Calgary Learns about how the funding works, the reporting, and the upcoming application. Sincerely — every part of the event was perfect and helpful!”

Participant of the Looking Ahead gathering (fall 2024)

4. Responsive Programming for Newcomers

The influx of newcomers to our city and the resulting strain on services and support have been widely covered in the media.  Calgary Learns secured additional funding from the Ministry of Advanced Education to support frontline organizations managing the surging needs of newcomers.  These targeted grants have provided immediate language and pre-employment services to over 1500 learners alongside our annual program grants, which serve hundreds of newcomers each year.

Two students who attended the ESL for Employability Program at the Centre for Newcomers shared that their language skills and confidence had improved, and the in-class interview role play helped them in securing a job. One participant said he is happy, and he got a job at a warehouse. He said the interviewer asked most of the questions covered in the employability class. For example, “Tell me about yourself” and “What are some of the skills you have?”

“I knew how to prepare for job interviews and I had one. I learned how to get there and was on time.”

5. Professional Development (PD)

Professional development for practitioners of Calgary Learns’ grant-funded programs targets their program delivery priorities, relevant research, and emerging trends in the sector. Mentoring support, a subset of Calgary Learns PD, is offered to both our grant-funded programs and poverty-serving agencies. Through mentorship, we come alongside organizations to support their work to reduce barriers and increase their knowledge of literacy and learning-related challenges.

“I really liked the idea of having everything planned out – but it wasn’t a reality that effectively prioritized the learners in my classroom.”

Practitioner of a digital literacy program conveying the impact of moving from curriculum-focused teaching to learner-centered emergent curriculum facilitation

“I feel like now that my eyes are more open to plain language, I am seeing a stronger need for it…. I was reviewing our release of information paperwork with a client, and I noticed how nervous she looked. And then she directly verbalized that paperwork and filling out forms just creates a stress response in her. It was a real ‘wow’ moment.”

Program Manager of a Calgary poverty-serving agency responding to a plain language session

6. Plainly Speaking

Our AGM gatherings are an opportunity to offer inspiring and relevant professional development for our broader community.  AGM 2024 featured Nicole d’Entremont, Founder of Plainly Speaking. In her keynote session, she emphasized the importance of Plain Language because it:

• • Helps people find, read, and understand your information
  • Allows people to see essential information first
  • Ensures content is more accessible to people living with barriers
  • Lets things get done quickly and easily
  • Reduces frustrations and mistakes

Nicole highlighted that adopting plain language communication can lead to significant cost savings for organizations, potentially reducing expenses by up to 30%.

Why Our Work Together Matters

Results from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), released in December 2024, show that one in five adult Canadians struggle with reading, writing, numeracy,  and digital problem-solving skills.  These are the very skills adults need for daily life tasks, learning, and work. We know that individuals with unmet literacy needs are more likely to be hired into precarious low-wage employment, report limited access to affordable and adequate health resources, and perceive themselves as having little impact on our civic engagement systems.

The PIACC findings reinforce Calgary Learns’ mandate to support adults with unmet foundational learning needs through learner-centred, grant-funded programs. These programs support adults on their journey to continuing their education, finding employment, advocating for themselves, and making a positive contribution to their community.

We thank all of our program partners who make the work of Calgary Learns possible. Your commitment to your learners despite a year of acute challenges is inspiring. Together, we are making a difference for the most vulnerable in our community.

Calgary Learns is supported by the Alberta Government through the Community Adult Learning Program (CALP).

View our 2024 Audited Financials and list of our Partners and their Funded Programs