Canadian Council on Learning | Conseil Canadien sur l'Apprentissage

Post-secondary Education in Canada: Strategies for Success

2007 Report

Summary: Part I  Chapter 5 

Access

Conversations about PSE access most commonly revolve around affordability. However, access hinges upon many other factors, such as perceptions about the costs and benefits of PSE, and the capacity of the sector to meet the needs of traditional and non-traditional learners.

Table 5.3.1  PSE attainment of working-age population, 2004

1. The OECD uses attainment of ‘tertiary’ education, which includes academic/university programs and vocational post-secondary programs, such as colleges.
* Reference year, 2003
Note: Percentages might not add up due to rounding
Source: Canadian Council on Learning, 2007. The Composite Learning Index and OECD, Education at a Glance, 2006

With strong attainment and participation rates, Canada is considered by many to have one of the most accessible PSE sectors in the world. This is a testament to the high priority that Canadians and their governments place on education. Despite recessions, deficit crises and the budgetary demands of the health-care system, public expenditures on PSE, as a proportion of overall social spending, remained stable during the 1990s and increased slightly afterward.

Canada’s above-average attainment and participation rates also owe much to the reach and strength of the networks of community colleges.

Access has been enhanced by the steady growth and expansion of private and public PSIs, and by significant improvements to government programs that provide financial assistance to students.

Despite these strengths, obstacles remain:

• A Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation study found that informational and motivational factors outnumbered financial considerations for individuals who chose not to pursue PSE.
• Between 1990 and 2005, the participation rate of young people in any type of schooling increased from 28% to 41%. In 2006, this rate decreased to 39.9%, one of the few times Canada’s educational participation rate decreased on a year-to-year basis. A drop in the percentage of students attending community colleges or CEGEPs over the last two years contributed to this decline.
• Canada lacks a comprehensive assessment of the sector’s capacity to meet the learning demands of students.
• After being an early leader in the field of e-learning, Canada has been slower to incorporate online components into PSE programs. Canada lacks a national e-learning strategy.
• Pan-Canadian mechanisms do not exist for credit-transfer or prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR).