| September 1984 | Progressive Conservatives form government |
| June 1986 | David Crombie, Secretary of State |
| October 1, 1986 | In the Speech from the Throne, the federal government pledged to establish a national literacy initiative to: work with provinces, the private sector, and voluntary organizations to develop resources to ensure that Canadians have access to the literacy skills that are the pre-requisite for participation in our advanced economy. |
| 1987 | Work begins within the Department of Secretary of State on the literacy issue. |
| 1987 | The Cedar Glen Declaration: drafted by a coalition of Canadian organizations concerned about illiteracy in Canada. |
| September 1987 | Broken Words released, containing articles about literacy that originally appeared in Canadian newspapers. While the survey provided the first real statistic about the state of literacy in the country, interviews with more than 100 literacy workers and learners also put a human face on a problem that affects one in four adults. |
| March 1988 | David Crombie, Secretary of State, announced $1 million in literacy funding and creates what was to become the National Literacy Secretariat. |