Who we are The Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation (CCLF) is a charitable organization providing a national voice for children’s literacy. To ensure that all children in Canada are equipped to achieve their full potential, we raise awareness of the importance of building early literacy, promote and develop children’s literacy initiatives, champion literacy partners, and empower people to build literacy skills in their homes and communities. Literacy Matters Building literacy skills in children is one of the most effective ways to ensure they can achieve their full potential in school and throughout life. Literacy opens doors to understanding, empathy, critical thinking, and the capacity for lifelong learning. A more literate nation is healthier, more productive, and more socially engaged. Yet too many of Canada’s children are lacking the literacy skills they need to navigate in society. News releases Read On Canada!/Lisons Canada! coalition initiative wins World Literacy Award (Aug. 24, 2021) August 2021 Newsletter (Aug. 24, 2021) Summer 2021 Newsletter (July 15, 2021) Literacy groups and food banks team up to deliver books and reading resources to thousands of kids hit hard by COVID-19 pandemic disruptions (Jun. 22, 2021) March 2021 Newsletter (Mar. 15, 2021) December 2020 Newsletter (Dec. 9, 2020) Summer 2020 Newsletter (Jul. 20, 2020) More than 130,000 books are on the way to children served by food banks across Canada through new Read On Canada! initiative (Jun. 23, 2020) Spring 2020 Newsletter (Apr. 27, 2020) Winter 2020 Newsletter (Jan. 27, 2020) Too many of Canada's children are being left behind (Dec. 12, 2019) Fall 2019 Newsletter (Sep. 27, 2019) The Canadian Children's Literacy Foundation Welcomes Ariel Siller as CEO (July 18, 2019) Spring 2019 Newsletter (May 29, 2019) Winter 2019 Newsletter (Feb. 15, 2019) Heather Munroe-Blum, Heather Reisman, and Col. Chris Hadfield Announce the Launch of the Canadian Children's Literacy Foundation in Honour of Canada's 150th (May 18, 2017)
More than one million children in Canada are estimated to have below grade-level reading skills (Source: Deloitte LLP. An Economic Overview of Children's Literacy in Canada) Click to See more facts & figures
27% of kids start Grade 1 without some of the early developmental skills they need to be able to learn to read. (Source: Early Development Instrument) Click to See more facts & figures
Children in low socioeconomic communities are almost 2× as likely to be behind in early development skills as high-socioeconomic status peers (Source: Pan-Canadian Public Health Network) Click to See more facts & figures
A one per cent increase in adult literacy would create an economic benefit of $67 billion gross domestic product for Canada per year (Source: Deloitte LLP. An Economic Overview of Children's Literacy in Canada) Click to See more facts & figures