One of the most significant disincentives to participation in post-secondary education for potential mature students may be Canada’s financial aid system, which is designed for learners following a traditional path from secondary to post-secondary. One of the key problems is that older students, especially those with dependents, may be unwilling to give up the savings and assets that they worked hard to accumulate in order to be eligible for government loans, making them too vulnerable to economic misfortune. Moreover, in most provinces, the expected contribution required from a spouse rises rapidly even from fairly low level of spouse's income preventing many married students with working spouses to be eligible for student loans. The proportion of older students with private bank loans and lines of credit suggests that the current system is not meeting their needs.
Canada has lower rates of participation in job-related training than several other advanced nations including the United States. Employer support for training is largely concentrated on their higher skilled workforce. How to encourage employers to provide more training, especially to the lessskilled employees, is a complex issue. Through case studies and evaluation research, the Conference Board of Canada has developed a business case for the provision of employer-supported training which highlights a number of benefits including increased productivity, reduced error rates, a better health and safety record, and increased customer and employee retention.
Few Canadian jurisdictions have used any of the available policy levers for encouraging employers to train their employees. While a few provinces provide training grants, Quebec is the only province with a train-or-pay scheme. The federal government has provided substantial financial support for the development of a sectoral approach to defining and dealing with skill requirements. Although there is evidence of significant training-related activity through the sector councils, there is none in terms of their effectiveness in improving access to learning opportunities for the less-educated.
Some Canadian firms have launched initiatives to provide training to low-skilled workers with impressive results. But these firms remain in the minority. The Conference Board’s research suggests that some barriers to training low-skilled workers are particularly deep-rooted. One of the most troubling aspects of Canada’s economy is that the competitive human resource strategy of too many Canadian firms is based on a low-cost/low-addedvalue approach. This approach perpetuates a low-skill/low-wage equilibrium in which neither employees nor employers demand higher levels of skills. Firms that gain their competitive edge from low-cost, low-skilled work have little incentive to invest in labour force development.
The rise of workforce intermediaries in the United States appears to be a promising response to the problem of the lowskill/low-wage equilibrium. In some regions, workforce intermediaries have significantly improved the prospects of low-wage workers in local labour markets.
A review of five fictive, real-life scenarios suggests that returning to school, whether to complete a high-school diploma or obtain a post-secondary credential involves a tremendous commitment of time, money and effort. Despite substantial rhetoric around the importance of lifelong learning, there are few programs and policies to support lesseducated adults who wish to upgrade their skills. Few workplaces offer skillsupgrading opportunities to less-educated adults. No province (except Alberta under certain circumstances) provides income support to adults who are already working, even if they are working in the low-wage labour market. As a result, most adult learners must rely on family and friends and/or juggle work and school and/or incur significant financial debt. These adults must rely on costly private loans. While most adults who return to school will enjoy significant economic benefits and improved labour market prospects, these benefits are not guaranteed up front. In most cases, returning to school requires great sacrifice and a profound leap of faith.