About us
Who we are
AWES is a non-profit organization dedicated to workplace skills training, research, and curriculum development. We specialize in developing customized skills training solutions for employers, organizations, and practitioners that respond to workplace skills needs. As leaders in essential skills training and development, we’ve been serving communities at the local, provincial, and national levels for over 30 years.
We collaborate with a diverse range of partners to continuously innovate, create, and deliver actionable, sustainable, and high-quality workplace skills training solutions. Dedicated to exceeding labour market demands and creating training opportunities through programming focused on skills for success, we strive to stay ahead of workplace trends and remain at the leading edge of essential skills initiatives.
To lead innovative workplace skills training initiatives across Canada so that everyone has the opportunity to be productive and successful.
A global culture of workplace skills development where everyone has access to training opportunities and is empowered to fully engage in all aspects of their lives.
Collaborative: We work closely with our clients and partners to understand their perspective, providing solutions that work for all members of the organization.
Equitable: We work towards creating justice for vulnerable populations through training, advocacy, and opportunity.
Responsive: We start by listening since each project is a unique undertaking. We respond to your specific needs quickly and creatively with customized solutions.
Future-focused: We are dedicated to staying ahead of the trends and prepared to meet labour market challenges head on with future-focused skills development.
Essential skills are a key driver of success at work, at home and in the community. Taking a client-focused and learner-centred approach, we apply our integrated training framework, content expertise, and industry knowledge to create tailored training solutions that fit the needs of the whole organization. We strive to create opportunities for collaboration with and among partners to foster shared learning environments in which everyone benefits. Contextualized skills development is the secret to successful learning whether the topic is workplace safety, leadership, or employment
Our history
AWES has a rich history in the essential skills sector, spanning back to 1989. We’ve worked with many industries and delivered a variety of training programs and workshops over the years.
Origin of AWES name
AWES had many names over the years before we officially became AWES in 2023. As we have evolved as an organization, our name has changed to reflect our growth and changes in the sector. AWES stems from our former name: Alberta Workforce Essential Skills Society. Although our roots are in Alberta, we develop and provide skills development opportunities across Canada and internationally. We recognized that our former name no longer represented our present or our future, but wanting to maintain the history that comes with our name, the AWES acronym was adopted as our official name!
Why work with us
To complete workplace tasks efficiently and correctly, workers need the proper foundational skills. Our integrated training combines realistic workplace tasks with activities that build the necessary language and essential skills workers need for any workplace task.
Every workplace is unique, and so are the training solutions we develop. Using tasks, content, and materials from your workplace, we build skills training that is contextualized to your industry and responds directly to your goals and needs. With our training, your workers will develop the skills they need for success in the workplace, education/community, and life today and in the future.
With over 30 years of experience running workplace skills initiatives and delivering innovative and cutting-edge resources throughout Canada, we are the go-to for customized training solutions that meets the specific needs of every organization we work with.
Who we work with
We have experience working with and designing training for a diverse range of organizations from many different industries, at the local, provincial, and national levels.
Industries that have benefited from our training include:
Manufacturing
Food processing
Construction
Trucking and hauling
Financial services
If you don’t see your industry on this list, be the first to set a new workplace skills training standard.
We have enduring partnerships with provincial and federal government departments. With government funding, we’re able to address pressing and emerging workforce skills needs affecting workers and job seekers provincially and nationally.
Practitioners in many sectors can benefit from incorporating essential skills and Skills for Success concepts into practice. With a team of literacy and essential skills experts, we can develop custom training for practitioners working in literacy and ESL, post-secondary, community adult learning programs, and immigrant-serving organizations that will make it possible to include language and skill development activities in key services. We’re known for our practitioner training and can create workshops on integrating skills concepts into practice, preparing learners for the workplace, and using authentic documents.
The Skills for Success model and essential skills profiles are excellent resources for employment counsellors and career development practitioners to use to better support clients. We will provide training on the use and benefits of these tools and equip you with the knowledge you need to apply the concepts in practice, including how to assess clients’ skills, understand task complexity, and identify the skills needs of various jobs to better match clients with career opportunities.
Different communities have different needs. We have a strong record of working with Indigenous communities to provide workplace skills training. Working closely with you, we create training that is tailored to the specific skills and language needs of your community and takes into account various elements, such as culture and history. Our approach to community-based training focuses on identifying strengths first, which will guide our process for developing training.
Take advantage of our essential skills expertise when recruiting within Canada or from overseas. We’ll deliver training on identifying skills strengths and challenges prior to workers’ arrival in Canada and provide recommendations for future development to offer workers that will support immigrants transitioning into the Canadian workplace. Our approach addresses the workplace skills, language and intercultural competencies needed for success and makes the process seamless for both employers and workers.