While reports of the Adult Education and Training (AET) Survey (Baran et al., 2000) indicate that only 37% of adult Canadians participate in formal education and training, reports from the New Approaches to Lifelong Learning (NALL) survey indicate that 96% of adult Canadians participate in informal learning activities (Livingstone, 2002). The NALL survey also found that participation in informal learning does not fall off after age 50 (Fisher, 2005) and that those without a high school diploma spend as much time in learning activities as those with a university degree (OECD, 2002).

The Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALL) Survey (Statistics Canada/OECD, 2005) combines the research methods used in the AET survey with those used in the NALL survey and the International Adult Literacy Survey to measure participation in both formal and informal learning and basic literacy skills. The ALL study found that engagement in passive forms of informal learning or learning that is incidental to other life activities is an almost universal activity, while engagement in active forms or intentional informal learning activities are more unequally distributed within the general population. Active engagement in informal learning is strongly related to education attainment and skill levels.

Carlton and Soulsby (1999) argue that, for groups with the lowest participation rates, learning activities, whether formal or informal, are generally designed and delivered by not-for-profit and community agencies rather than formal educational institutions. Individuals who succeed in such programs may have trouble making the transition to a formal educational institution because credentials and prior learning are not recognized and because access to a formal institutional is so complex and impersonal.

Low literacy levels are linked to low participation rates and to above-average personal and learning difficulties, low self-esteem, associated social problems and below-normal incomes (HRDC, 2001). Literacy problems are viewed as costing businesses and industries in terms of lost productivity, and health and safety problems.

The IALS reported that 80% of persons 65 years and over are at the two lowest literacy levels (McCardle, 2002). However, these seniors perceive themselves as well able to cope with day-to-day living and as having no literacy problems. For such individuals, literacy was considered a luxury in their youth and opportunities to gain literacy skills as adults were limited. In their current personal and work lives, a high level of literacy is not viewed as essential. Many individuals function adequately at a literacy level congruent with their community's development and expectations (McCardle, 2002; Millar & Falk, 2000).

The best educated and most skilled workers tend to participate more in job-related training than workers who have low levels of educational attainment and who hold low-waged, low-skilled jobs (Lowe, 2001). Part-time workers participate less than full-time workers (OECD, 2002). Participation in employer-sponsored educational activities decreases sharply after age 44 (OECD, 2002). Women do not receive the same level of employer-sponsored learning opportunities as men (OECD, 2002). Workplace training provided by employers increases with the size of the company (OECD, 2002; Statistics Canada/OECD, 2005). Training low wage workers is viewed by employers as problematic because the turn-over rate among such workers is high, the structure of low-wage jobs does not lend itself to further training, and there is a lack of evidence of the effectiveness of such training (Ahlstrand, Bassi & McMurrer, 2003). When low wage workers gain literacy skills and develop new work-related skills, they often demand better pay and better jobs. If these rewards are not forthcoming from their employer, they may seek a better job. Future access to workplace training is a concern for four groups of workers – self-employed workers, home-based workers, part-time workers, and temporary or contract workers (Lowe, 2001).