Canadian Council on Learning | Conseil Canadien sur l'Apprentissage

Canadian Post-secondary Education
A Positive Record – An Uncertain Future

Chapter 9 highlights

Lifelong learning

Long gone are the days when a career meant moving directly from high school or even post-secondary studies to the workforce and, from there, directly to retirement. The need to upgrade one’s skills and knowledge on a continual basis, frequently referred to as ‘lifelong learning’, is the new reality in today’s complex world. Upgrading skills for employment is not the only motivation—many Canadians pursue further education and training to enhance their personal development and keep pace with the rapidly changing world around them.

Over the last 10 years, working Canadians have become increasingly aware of the need for education and training throughout their adult lives: in 2003, 50% of adult Canadians took some kind of adult education and training, up from 35% a decade earlier. ^[1]

Adult education has not traditionally been a central role of post-secondary institutions, with the exception perhaps of vocational schools. A majority of PSE participants have historically been, and continue to be, youth moving directly from secondary schools or CEGEP into community college or university. However, the escalating demand for retraining and skills upgrading means that post-secondary institutions could and should play a much greater role in the delivery of ongoing adult learning. With up to 70% of new jobs requiring PSE qualifications and nearly nine million working-age Canadians in need of the literacy and numeracy skills that serve as the foundation for full participation in the economy, post-secondary institutions will increasingly be called on to meet the lifelong needs of non-traditional learners.

Lifelong learning is one of the chief weaknesses related to post-secondary education in Canada. Several challenges must be overcome before Canadians will benefit fully from the opportunities provided by adult education and training:

• Despite Canada’s high levels of PSE attainment, on a battery of tests designed to assess literacy, numeracy and problem-solving only 40 to 60% of Canadians aged 16–65 perform at skill levels at or above the minimum levels required to function adequately in today’s economy.
• There is a mismatch between the skills and learning needs of millions of Canadians and the current availability of adult education and training opportunities: 1.5 million Canadians report unmet needs for job-related education and training. The OECD has found that federal–provincial incoherence and lack of cooperation hamper adult education information and opportunities in Canada.
• Business support for adult education and training is weaker in Canada than in other OECD countries, both in terms of expenditures per employee on training and also in terms of share of payroll. Just one in three Canadian workers participated in formal, job-related training in 2002. Of them, males, people in white-collar jobs and those already with PSE received the most support.
• Workplace-based training is far more readily available at larger firms; however, small and medium-size businesses now make up most of the Canadian economy.
• Other countries have been more successful than Canada in encouraging employer-supported training and lifelong learning.

To overcome these challenges, Canadian governments, post-secondary institutions, businesses and unions must find ways to collaborate on solutions that, ultimately, will increase the number of skilled workers in Canada, and ensure the right skills sets are available. Effective partnerships could, for example, increase workplace training and the participation of post-secondary institutions in the delivery of adult education.

New investments and additional supports should also be put in place to enable a smoother transition to PSE for those who still struggle with literacy skills. Research indicates that investment in literacy is three times more important than investment in physical capital when it comes to increasing productivity. Countries with literacy scores 1% higher than average experience 2.5% higher average labour productivity and 1.5% higher GDP per capita. ^[2]

There is evidence that literacy skills erode over time, a serious challenge for Canada given the aging of the Canadian population and the changing needs of the workplace and economy. The learning needs of low-literacy individuals not in the labour force and recent immigrants—who are sometimes unable to access on-the-job training—should be given greater attention. Training must be made more readily available to those in greatest need, given that individuals with higher levels of education currently receive the most adult education.

Finally, Canadian governments, employers and post-secondary institutions would be well advised to study and adopt approaches to lifelong learning being embraced by other countries. In 2001, for example, the British government introduced Foundation Degrees that offer a vocational route into higher education. The French government has formalized procedures to recognize and validate an individual’s life experience and prior learning when earning a degree. And German, federal and state governments approved a joint Strategy for Lifelong Learning in 2004 to guide their collaborative efforts in adult education and training. All of these examples provide interesting models for Canadian action.

^[1] Learning a Living. First Results of the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (2005). Statistics Canada and OECD, Ottawa Paris.

^[2] Coulombe, S., Tremblay, J.F., and Marchand, S. (2004). Literacy scores, human capital and growth across fourteen OECD countries. Statistics Canada, Catalogue no. 89-552-MIE.

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