6 • Institute for Work & Health (IWH)
What are "essential skills gaps"?
ESDC has developed a system to rate the "complexity" of the essential skills required by
workers in different occupations. The rating system uses a five-point scale, from Level 1
(basic) to Level 5 (advanced), as shown in the example below.
For example, the level of difficulty of reading tasks ranges between being able to read short
texts to find a single piece of information (complexity Level 1), to being able to understand
and use long and complicated texts, like contracts or reports (complexity Level 5). The ability
to read at a complexity Level 3 is essential for most jobs, even for those that do not require a
college diploma, university degree or specialized training.
Indeed, for most occupations, at least some of the tasks involved require essential skills at a
Level 3 complexity rating or better to perform well. When workers do not possess the essential
skills at the complexity rating required to do their job, the gap between their level and the job
requirement is referred to as an "essential skills gap."
Why address essential skills gaps?
Results from the 2012 Survey of Adult Skills under the Programme for the International
Assessment of Adult Competencies showed that almost half of the working-age population
in Canada scored below Level 3 in literacy, and over half scored below Level 3 in numeracy
(Statistics Canada, 2013). This indicates that, for many workers, gaps exist between their ES
levels and the requirements of their job. Gaps in essential skills such as oral communications,
document interpretation and basic numeracy may impede the effectiveness of OHS training.
Advanced Basic
Being able to
understand and
use long and
complicated texts
Essential for most
jobs, even for those
that do not require
specialized training
Being able to read
short texts to find
a single piece of
information
Level 1 Reading Level 3 Reading Level 5 Reading
