Executive Summary

United Way Ottawa has funded this research to examine the distribution of Literacy and Basic Skills (LBS) learners in the city in order for the members of the Ottawa Community Coalition for Literacy (OCCL) to coordinate service delivery and outreach efforts to most effectively reach their target audience. This report is intended to be a resource and reference tool for LBS delivery agencies to use for ongoing service delivery and planning purposes.

The researcher used the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities’ (MTCU) Information Management System (IMS) database in order to obtain information about adult literacy learners, in Ottawa. Anne Parker and staff at AlphaPlus Centre wrote a set of query instructions which allowed LBS agency staff to produce a report containing the necessary learner data.

Twelve LBS delivery agencies had their IMS database mined to produce a report containing five fields: learner postal code, age, gender, source of income and initial (overall) literacy level. In total, this report yielded 1,238 learner records for the reporting period January 1 to December 31, 2002.

Learner data for postal codes was then mapped to show the distribution of learner participation in the city in 2002. This pattern revealed clusters of learners in a number of neighbourhoods throughout the city. Areas of high-density included: Centretown, Pinecrest/Queensway, Carleton Heights, Lowertown, Vanier, Overbrook and Hunt Club.

Mapping of socio-economic indicators and demographic data from the 2001 Canada Census of Population, using Geographic Information System (GIS) software, allows the reader to make comparisons between characteristics of neighbourhoods and learner distribution patterns. There is linking of the incidence of adult literacy learner location to factors such as the cost of housing, average family income, unemployment level, English language mother tongue, and highest level of educational attainment. These factors play a part in the complicated and multi-faceted array of barriers faced by many adults considering making the decision to participate in literacy upgrading.

Literature on this topic states that factors related to personal situations such as housing, income, transportation concerns, arranging for child/elder care or coordinating around employment tremendously affect whether a person participates in literacy upgrading or not. Being able to see the characteristics of a neighbourhood quantitatively, along with the distribution pattern of participating learners and agency locations, taken in conjunction with each agency’s unique delivery model (i.e. classroom, volunteer tutors, etc.), allows programs to plan service delivery and anticipate potential barriers faced by learners. Ideally, programs will find ways to minimize barriers so that more learners can access available literacy service in the future.