Bow Valley College

About Us Across Canada, employers, educators, labour organizations and governments are working together to ensure that Canadians have the essential skills needed for full participation in home and community life. TOWES (the Test Of Workplace Essential Skills) at Bow Valley College offers valid, reliable and effective paper and web-based assessments, curriculum and training support for organizations and individuals looking to assess and improve literacy and essential skills. Objectives TOWES seeks to benefit Canadians by improving essential skill levels and addressing adult literacy gaps. According to Statistics Canada, 47% of Canadian workers do not possess adequate skills in three areas that are essential for workplace safety and productivity: reading text, document use and numeracy. Utilizing authentic workplace documents, TOWES accurately measures an individual’s understanding in these areas. By improving Essential Skill levels, workers can increase their productivity and safety at work. Through the use of TOWES, employers can identify and develop the essential skills of workers and prepare them for a wide range of jobs. TOWES provides practitioners with data to make better informed hiring and training decisions, as well as supports employees, students, and job seekers by enabling them to make better informed career and education decisions and to access higher paying jobs.