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311 and 211 explained at GovInfo

311 Halton Government Services will be officially launched today Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at 2pm.

What are the differences between 311 and 211?
311 is a three-digit telephone number for callers to get access to the following government services in Halton Region:

· Town of Oakville
· City of Burlington
· Town of Milton
· Town of Halton Hills
· Halton District School Board
· Halton Catholic District School Board
· Halton Regional Police Service (non-emergency calls)
Examples would be: program information, request a service or report non-emergency problems.

Ontario 211, on the other hand, provides information about many community, health and social services, regardless of whether the services are provided by government, not-for-profit or community groups. 211 service is available in Toronto, Halton, Windsor-Essex, Niagara, Simcoe County and Thunder Bay, with plans for further expansion. It's free, operates 24/7 and staff has expertise in 150 languages. See today's Toronto Star Budget to offer Hotline Aid for more information on this great service.

Featuring Canadian War History in GovInfo

Veterans Affairs Canada is a great place (and often overlooked) to refer those Grade 10 history students who are looking for information on the First and Second World Wars. They will find details of the battles, background to the wars, video clips and interviews with veterans. The website also contains information on the Boer War the Korean War and Canada's peacekeeping operations in the last 50 years. It's best to look under the History link on the sidebar, but this is a good website to explore a little as there are several hidden gems.
You'll find that the library has some print publications from Veterans Affairs too, such as Valour Remembered: Canada and the Second World War , Canada's Nursing Sisters and Native soldiers, Foreign Battlefields and these are in French and English, so particularly helpful for French Immersion students.

Oakville's highly educated population

Figures released yesterday from the 2006 Census show Oakville and Richmond Hill residents holding the highest percentage of university degrees in the Greater Toronto Area. Approximately 42% of the residents in both municipalities have university degrees at the bachelor level or higher. The average for Ontario is about 31%. Click here to see full details of Oakville residents' educational attainment.
View this map from the Globe & Mail for a complete snapshot of education, employment and commuting in the provinces, territories and metropolitan areas of Canada in 2006.

New from the Census

Statistics Canada today released data from the 2006 Census this morning, and most of the media coverage has been about labour market activities, and particularly the graying of the workforce (half now over the age of 40). However, there is much more to peruse there – data on industry, occupation, education and language of work. Take a look.
Also provided are three excellent on-line documents Canada's Changing Labour Force, Educational Portrait of Canada, and Using Languages at Work in Canada,