Adult literacy has long been one of the focus areas within the Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education (CASAE). This has been evident in the publications featured in the journal (including one special issue in 2001) as well as the presentations at the annual conferences. Canadian adult literacy pioneer, Alan Quigley, even received CASAE’s first lifetime achievement award! However, since the mid-2010s, the federal government has withdrawn its funding for adult literacy and also shifted adult literacy towards essential skills (CUPE, 2018, 2019; Elfert & Walker, 2020). The result is that researchers see much fewer funding opportunities, hence reducing the research output on adult literacy (Crooks et al., 2021). Another outcome from the policy shift on adult literacy is the diminishing visibility of practitioners within research. It is against this disheartening policy background that in 2024, we put forward a proposal to establish a special interest group (SIG) on adult literacy within CASAE. 

As a group of researchers interested in adult literacy both as an area of research and also as a cause for social justice, we believe that the creation of a SIG on adult literacy would help keep a spotlight on the issues concerning the field of adult literacy. CASAE has long been a leader in taking a critical perspective on adult education, and the ongoing struggle with the policy shifts in adult literacy means that it is as important as ever for CASAE to play its part in ensuring the sustainability of adult literacy education and research in Canada.