Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Good morning everyone. Indeed, bonjour. My name is Aleksandra Popovic and I'm with ABC Life Literacy Canada.
At ABC, we envision a Canada where everyone has the literacy skills they need to live a fully engaged life. Literacy is the core work that ABC does, including workforce literacy, community literacy, and workplace literacy. ABC has had the privilege of appearing before this committee several times to speak to the importance of literacy and essential skills for Canadians. We appreciate this privilege.
Today I'm pleased to be able to address you about this issue within the context of addressing existing labour shortages in high-demand occupations. We believe, and research demonstrates, that the weak literacy skills and essential skills of Canadians are directly related to the difficulties employers are having in finding the trained workers they need. When I speak of the essential skills, I'm referring to reading, writing—