Adult Programs
Inspiring continuous education by integrating Skills for Success into engaging programs for adults.
About Adult Programs
The Yukon Literacy Coalition collaborates with community partners on unique Yukon-wide programs and projects that focus on skills development, helping participants enhance career opportunities and explore new interests. Programs are designed to be both comprehensive and engaging, ensuring every adult can find something that sparks their passion.
Current Projects
Three for Change
The Yukon Literacy Coalition (YLC), NWT Literacy Council, and Ilitaqsiniq are collaborating on a project called ‘Three for Change’. This initiative aims to create and provide Skills for Success training programs and establish Social Enterprises across the North and within each Territory, aiming to provide opportunities for community capacity building and training. Despite their differences, the Territories face similar opportunities and challenges, fostering mutual learning and support.
This project emphasizes practical learning experiences, integrating five key Skills for Success: Collaboration, Problem Solving, Innovation and Creativity, Communication, and Adaptability. These distinctive hands-on workshops, tailored to each territory, are delivered with a Northern and Indigenous context, highlighting how our environment significantly influences the way we understand and apply these skills in our daily personal and professional lives.
So far, YLC has successfully conducted social enterprise training sessions for people throughout the Yukon and launched three social enterprises in Whitehorse.
The first social enterprise was a sauce-making business called Wild Sauce Co., which created products using ingredients sourced from the local land. Wild Sauce Co. successfully participated in both the Fireweed Market and the Christmas Market in 2023, with proceeds donated to charity.
In the summer of 2024, YLC hosted a vibrant camp for children aged 7 to 10, called P.L.A.Y Camp.
The third territorial social enterprise is a food trailer named the S.S. Culinary. Its initial venture took place in the summer of 2024, featuring Yukon-local foods with an emphasis on sourdough. By educating tourists about local cuisine and offering a convenient option for locals during their morning commute, YLC remains committed to lifelong learning through supporting the community. A portion of the proceeds was donated to charity.
The three Territories have been continuously collaborating on launching a tri-territorial social enterprise. YLC is developing an e-commerce marketplace specifically designed to empower artists in the North. This platform aims to address challenges faced by Northern artists, including limited technology skills, inadequate internet access, and lack of banking services, thereby offering these artists access to a wider market and increased brand recognition. This initiative aims to empower artists by connecting them to the global market, thereby redistributing influence and opportunities back to the artists themselves.
Through this project and the tri-territorial northern alliance, Shifting Ice: The Northern Learning Council was created. It was led by the three Canadian territories, specifically Yukon Literacy Coalition, Northwest Territories Literacy Council and Ilitaqsiniq to develop a network of northern organizations with shared values and a circumpolar reach. Shifting Ice will foster collaboration and community-centred approaches to lifelong learning, providing and supporting the growth of individuals and communities alike.
To learn more about our Northern partners, check out their websites:
Pathways to Success
Yukon Pathways to Success is a project designed to address the needs and challenges faced by the hospitality and tourism sector. Through this project, YLC is developing training programs to strengthen the workforce, support local businesses, and promote a positive working environment. Training has been co-developed with community partners to ensure the needs of businesses are met and local knowledge from and about Yukon First Nations is embedded.
Yukon Pathways to Success includes pre-employment training to help participants gain the skills needed to thrive in the hospitality and tourism sector. YLC also arranges training around diversity and inclusion to ensure everyone knows they are welcome in this sector.
So far, YLC has run three pre-employment programs for Newcomers and First Nations participants that each spanned 4-weeks. These programs include on-the-job training in which participants get the chance to experience working for local tourism and hospitality businesses. YLC works with Yukon First Nations partners to ensure cultural awareness trainings are provided in all programs.
Additionally in the project, YLC has begun building the framework for a Northern Employer of Choice program. This framework will be designed using feedback from Yukon employees and employers alike, thereby ensuring that workers’ opinions are valued and that the operators’ experiences are heard.
Yukon Pathways to Success is a three-year project with the capacity for broad reach across the Yukon. We are excited to be working on this initiative to bolster and celebrate Yukon hospitality.
Community Literacy Project
The Community Literacy project supports Yukon communities to offer short programs that embed literacy and essential skills in order to improve health and wellness, increase skills within the community, and provide the tools to enable community members to facilitate skill building programs.
During the project, the YLC provides one on one training to community facilitators on literacy and skills for success and the basics of running a literacy program in the community. The content of each community program is based on expressed community needs.
Programs delivered so far include gardening, quilting, creative writing, snow sculpting, ceramics, painting, and print making. Each of these programs has proven to provide communities with new skills and bolstered a healthy learning environment in each location. Local facilitators are hired, trained, and supported through each program to accommodate the needs of the community.
Upcoming Programs
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