Section 8
Adults participating in continuing education

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8.1 Characteristics of adults participating in job-related training

8.2 Participation rate of adults in job-related training

Lifelong involvement in learning is important for many reasons. With advances in health care knowledge and technology, it is particularly important that adults from health occupations be able to maintain and upgrade their skills and knowledge through continuing education. It is useful to understand who is participating in training and learning activities (whether formal or informal) and the role their employers play in supporting this training, as well as what kind of training they are getting.

The Statistics Canada's Adult Education and Training Survey (AETS) provides much information of interest on the socio-demographic characteristics of adults participating in formal and informal job-related training activities (refer to Appendix 1 for a general overview of this survey).

In addition to the national level, the following sections will cover results from all provinces. However, given the sample size, most information at the provincial level should be used with caution.

8.1 Characteristics of adults participating in job-related training

After entering the labour market, health workers continue to upgrade their skills, even when not required to by their employer or regulatory bodies. Support for formal training is high among health employers and their employees take advantage of it.

According to AETS, about 60% of adults in health occupations participated in formal job-related training in 2002 (either supported or not by an employer), twice the rate of other occupations (33%) (Table 8.1.1 and Chart 8.1). During the same period, slightly more than half (54%) of these adults from health occupations also developed some of their job skills through self-directed training. This compares to slightly less than one-third for adults in all other occupations (31%) (Table 8.1.1). This high involvement in formal and informal training activities by adults from health occupations stands out from all others in the area of adult education and training and seems to indicate a standard in this sector of activities.

Similar to what was observed at the national level, the proportions of adults involved in formal and informal job-related training in the provinces were also higher for adults from health occupations than for those in all other occupations (Tables 8.1.2 to 8.1.11).

More than 60% of adults from health occupations in Prince Edward Island (62%), Nova Scotia (63%), Ontario (66%), Alberta (68%) and British Columbia (64%) were involved in formal job-related training during 2002, while this was the case for about half of theme in New Brunswick (49%), Quebec (51%), Manitoba (52%) and Saskatchewan (53%). About 42% of adults from health occupations in Newfoundland and Labrador reported participating in formal job-related training during that year. During the same period, the proportions of adults from occupations not related to health who reported participating in such training activities varied from 28% in Prince Edward Island to 38% in British Columbia (Tables 8.1.2 to 8.1.11 and Chart 8.1).

Chart 8.1
A large proportion of adults from health occupations participated in formal job-related training

In the case of informal job-related training, with about 60%, Ontario (58%), Alberta (63%) and British Columbia (57%) showed the highest proportions of adults participating in informal training among all provinces. By comparison, this was the case for about half of the adults in Prince Edward Island (52%), Nova Scotia (52%), Quebec (49%) and Manitoba (50%) and for about 40% of theme in Newfoundland and Labrador (39%), New Brunswick (42%) and Saskatchewan (42%). During the same period, the proportions of adults from occupations not related to health who reported participating in such training activities varied from 25% in Newfoundland and Labrador to 36% in British Columbia (Tables 8.1.1 to 8.1.11).

Reflecting the composition of health workers, most participants in continuing education are women and they tend to be older than participants in non-health occupations

When looking at the profile of adults from health occupations participating in continuing education, results from AETS showed that most of these participants are women and that they tend to be older than participants in all other occupations. In the case of formal job-related training for example, about eight in ten (79%) adults from health occupations were women, reflecting the fact that women make up 79% of those employed in health occupations in 2001 (Statistics Canada 2001a) (Table 8.2.1 and Chart 8.2). Results from this survey also showed that about 40% of adults from health occupations who reported participating in formal training activities were aged between 45 and 64 years old. This compares with about 35% from those in all other occupations (Table 8.2.1). As with sex, these results reflect the 2001 labour force where about 40% of adults working in health occupations are 45 to 64 years-old (Statistics Canada 2001b).

Chart 8.2
Most participants in continuing education are women

Similar to what was observed at the national level, the proportion of women involved in formal job-related training in the provinces was higher in health occupations than in all other occupations (Tables 8.2.2 to 8.2.11 and Chart 8.2). The statement about the age of participants, however, could not be generalized across provinces as only New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia showed higher proportions of adults aged between 45 and 64 in health occupations than in all other occupations (Tables 8.2.2 to 8.2.11).

About four in ten adults from health occupations were involved in employer-supported training in 2002

The support of an employer can mitigate many of the factors that impede training, such as cost, demands of the workplace and family responsibilities. Results from AETS showed that an estimated 319,300 adults from health occupations were involved in employer-supported training in 2002, representing slightly less than 40% of Canadians aged 25 to 64 in those occupations. This compares to only 23% for all other occupations (Table 8.1.1).

With almost 50%, Prince Edward Island (47%), Nova Scotia (46%) and Alberta (45%) showed the highest proportions of adults participating in employer-supported training among all provinces. By comparison, this was the case for about 40% of the adults in Ontario (40%), Manitoba (37%) and British Columbia (44%), and for about 30% of those in Newfoundland and Labrador (27%), New Brunswick (32%), Quebec (33%) and Saskatchewan (32%) (Tables 8.1.2 to 8.1.11).

However, because participation in formal training overall is so high in health occupations (60% of Canadians aged 25 to 64 in those occupations), the proportion of participants who receive support from employers is actually lower than for all other occupations. In fact, out of the 497,800 adults from health occupation involved in formal training in 2002, about 64% of them (319,300) received support from their employers. This compares to about seven in ten for all other occupations (70% or 3,058,500 out of 4,344,600) (Table 8.1.1).

This was also the case in most provinces (Tables 8.1.2 to 8.1.11).

8.2 Participation rate of adults in job-related training

Results from AETS showed that, although the incidence of women in formal job-related training was higher than the one of men in health occupations (Table 8.2.1), there was no statistically significant difference in the participation rate of men and women in such training (men from health occupations were just as likely as the women to participate in the training) (Table 8.3.1). This was true across the provinces. Given the sample size, such comparison could not be established in the Atlantic provinces (Tables 8.3.2 to 8.3.11).

Although the proportion of adults participating in formal job-related training was about the same across the age groups for all other occupations (Table 8.2.1), participation in such training within each age group was highest for the 25- to 34-year-olds (39%), and declined for each successive age group, to 28% for the oldest workers (45- to 64-year-olds). Given the sample size, such comparison could not be established in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick (Table 8.4.1 and Chart 8.3).

Adults from health occupations did not follow this pattern at the national and provincial level; participation rates were high for all age groups (between 56% and 66%) and there was no statistically significant difference in participation between the different age groups (Tables 8.4.1 to 8.4.11 and Chart 8.3). This may be attributable to the fact that, independently of their age, health professionals are required to earn credits throughout their career if they wish to maintain their registration, professional designation or membership. The availability of training might also play a large role as both the supply of, and demand for, training services will affect the participation rates.

Chart 8.3
Participation rates were high for all age groups