Recent trends in adult education and training in Canada

Training intensity: reinforcing the link between education and training
Participation in formal employer-supported training
Self-directed learning
Unmet training needs/wants
Conclusion

In 2002, 4.8 million adult workers (aged 25 to 64) participated in formal, job-related training. This represents about 35 percent of all adult Canadian workers, up from 29 percent in 1997.

In a recent report, Valerie Peters¹ provides new information on adult education and training in Canada based on the 2003 Adult Education and Training Survey (AETS).² The results show that individual workers themselves were driving this growth, rather than training supported by their employers. Participation in employer-supported training increased only slightly, rising from about 22 percent in 1997 to 25 percent in 2002.

As in the past, younger workers took more training than older workers. In 2002, the training rate fell from 42% of workers aged 25 to 34 to 34% of workers aged 35 to 54 and 23% of workers aged 55 to 64. Although older workers posted the lowest training rates in 2002, the growth in their participation between 1997 and 2002 (over 50%) was far more rapid than for any other age group.

Educational attainment is strongly linked to participation in training - the higher the level of education a person has, the more likely it is that he or she will participate in training. In 2002, over half (52%) of workers with a university degree participated in formal, job-related training. The rate was also relatively high (38%) for workers with a college or trade certificate or diploma. The lowest rate (18%) occurred among workers with secondary school graduation or less. Moreover, the 1997-2002 increase in the overall participation in formal, job-related training was largely due to growth in the rate of participation of highly-educated workers.

These differences in training participation lead to the question of what is the main ‘driver’ of participation in formal training: age or education? One might expect, for example, that younger workers would be more likely to be given training by way of orientation to a new job and to fill gaps in the particular skills they bring to the job. On the other hand, more highly-educated workers might be more receptive to further training opportunities than those who did not pursue school past the high school level.

Figure 1. Job related education by age group and educational attainment, 2002

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Training intensity: reinforcing the link between education and training

The training participation rate tells us what proportion of workers take training in the space of one year. But how much training do they take? It could be a day or several months. Training intensity is an important part of the picture.

Participants in formal job-related training in 2002 received an average of 150 hours of training. Based on a training day of 6 hours, the average participant therefore received 25 days of training, the same as in 1997. Still, the number of hours of training increased appreciably among older participants – from 43 to 88 hours for 55 to 64-year-olds and from 82 to 97 hours for 45 to 54-year-olds. Therefore, not only were older workers more likely to participate in training in 2002 than in 1997, they also spent more time in training.

Workers with high school or less reported the fewest hours of training in both 1997 and 2002 (Figure 3). The largest gain was reported by workers who had some postsecondary education; in 2002, these workers reported having had 212 hours of formal job-related training, compared to 165 hours in 1997. Workers with a university education reported an average of 178 hours of training in 2002.

Figure 2: Participation in formal job-related training, by education level, Canada, 1997 and 2002

Figure 3: Average hours of training, by education level, Canada, 1997 and 2002

Source: Peters, Valerie (2004). Working and Training: First results of the 2003 Adult Education and Training Survey. Culture, Tourism and the Centre for education Statistics Research papers series. Statistics Canada Catalogue number 81-595-MIE20040015.

Training rates and intensity patterns differ by gender. Among men, the participation rate rose from 27% in 1997 to 33% in 2002, while training intensity per worker remained unchanged, at about 153 hours. Women saw an increase in the training participation rate from 31% to 37% between 1997 and 2002; however, training intensity decreased from 160 hours per participant to 147 hours.

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Participation in formal employer-supported training

Employers play a vital role in worker training. Seven out of every ten training participants received some form of training support from their employers in 2002. This proportion has declined since 1997, however, as the percentage of workers engaging in formal job-related training on their own has grown.

Between 1997 and 2002, participation rates in formal employer-supported training increased only slightly, if at all, for workers in most age and educational groups. By province, the rate increased substantially only in Quebec and New Brunswick. In New Brunswick, participation rose from 18% to 25%, an increase of over 33%. In relative terms, growth was even stronger in Quebec³ where the participation rate rose from 14% to 23%, a 60% increase.

More highly educated workers and those in professional and managerial positions are more likely than other employees to participate in formal employer-supported training. Close to 37 percent of workers with a university degree received employer-supported training in 2002, compared to 13 percent for employees whose highest level of education was high school or less. Similarly, workers employed in professional and managerial occupations had the highest rate of participation in employer-supported job-related training (35%), followed by white-collar workers in clerical, sales and service occupations (20%), and blue collar workers (16%).

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Self-directed learning

Job-related training is not restricted to formal training. To better perform their tasks or to develop skills for a future job, workers also learn on their own. This type of training, defined as self-directed learning or informal job-related training, was included for the first time in the 2003 AETS. Informal job-related training is defined in the AETS as training that involves little or no reliance on pre-determined guidelines for its organization, delivery or assessment, but it must be undertaken with the specific intention of developing job-related skills or knowledge.

In 2002, 33% of working adults engaged in self-directed job-related learning activities in the four weeks prior to the survey. Participation in self-directed learning was higher among women than men (35% versus 30%) and among younger workers than older workers (38% for 25 to 34-year-olds versus 23% for 55 to 64-year-olds). As was the case for formal job-related training, participation rates in self-directed learning were lowest for workers with the least formal education (16%) and rose with education, reaching 50% for workers with a university degree.

Of the workers who engaged in self-directed learning during the four-week period prior to the survey, 87% also participated in formal training at some point during 2002. The striking overlap between the two types of training also holds when examined from the opposite perspective: of the workers who participated in formal job-related in 2002, 82% also engaged in self-directed learning.

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Unmet training needs/wants

The proportions were similar for women and men: among training participants, 39% of women and 34% of men had unmet training needs/wants. These proportions dropped to 24% and 23% respectively for non-participants.

At 40%, training participants with higher levels of education (some postsecondary or a completed diploma, certificate or degree) were most likely to report having unmet needs/wants. Just 18% of non-participants with secondary school or less reported unmet training needs/wants.

The most common reasons for not taking training were cost, being too busy at work, a conflict between training and work schedules, and family responsibilities.

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Conclusion

The participation of working adults in job-related training and education has been identified as critical to meeting Canada’s emerging labour market needs. Technological change, shifts in global markets and organizational change all mean that skill requirements are changing continuously. For many workers, the skills and education they initially brought with them to the labour market need to be upgraded and expanded on an on-going basis.

One out of every three working adults participated in job-related education and training in 2002. However, participation is unequal across groups of workers. In particular, workers with the least education, regardless of their age, are also least likely to participate in training and if they do, that training is of relatively short duration compared to other workers. In fact, training participation patterns are more similar by education that they are by age.

In other words, the evidence suggests that formal education and the acquisition of new skills through further education and training are mutually reinforcing, further widening the gulf between the education haves and have-nots.

Notes

1. Peters, Valerie (2004). Working and Training: First results of the 2003 Adult Education and Training Survey. Culture, Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics Research papers series. Statistics Canada Catalogue number 81-595-MIE20040015.

2. Statistics Canada , in partnership with Human Resources Development Canada, conducted the AETS in February and March 2003.
3. The increase in employer-supported training in Quebec may reflect Quebec ’s implementation of the Act to Foster the Development of Manpower Training in 1995. Under the provisions of that Act, employers with annual payrolls over $250,000 must invest a percentage of their payroll costs in training; those that do not must make a contribution to a worker training fund.