- CEIC plans to shift away from job creation programs which tend to provide jobs in the service-producing industries (as typified by L.I.P. and O.F.Y.) and towards job creation programs in the goods-producing industries (as typified by the Canada Works program and the Department of Regional Economic Expansion). The goods-producing industries are those in which women tend to be under-represented (20% in goods-producing vs. 46% in service-producing). These industries also tend to provide low-wage, low-skill jobs for women or to require training in occupations which are non-traditional for women. Such occupations also tend to be controlled, in both training and hiring, by male- dominated unions. Further these job creation schemes are likely to provide more funds, and hence more training opportunities, in those regions where there is economic growth (i.e. Ontario to B.C.).

- the area of the labour force which is expanding most rapidly for women is in the skilled non-unionized clerical, technical and managerial occupations in the service-producing sector. These require both high schooling levels and high skill levels. The woman who benefits most from this expansion has probably already completed secondary school and has at least some occupational training, the more recent the better since technical skills change rapidly in today's market.

- a fourth shift is designed to ensure that all components of the Training Program serve the central purposes of the legislation (the Adult Occupational Training Act):

  • to get the trainee into' a job or improve his/her earning potnetial; and

  • to fill the national skill requirements and priorities of industry, particularly in areas of employment growth.

To this end, training funds will be reduced for BTSD and Language programs1, and expanded for Occupational, Apprenticeship, and Industrial programs. The following 1977-78 data suggest how this shift will affect women: 2

Distribution of Distribution of Distribution of
  female trainees male trainees total trainees
Training Program _Number_ _% _ _Number_ _% _ _Number_ _%_
             
Institutional:
 Occupational skill 26,869 35.0% 43,083 25.0% 69,952 28.1%
             
 Language 4,401 5.7 3,535 2.1 7.936 3.2
             
 BTSD 24,270 31.6 19,690 11.4 43,960 17.7
             
 Apprenticeship 1,580 2.1 55,813 32.4 57,393 23.0
             
             
Industrial:
 Special Needs 1,899 2.4 4,593 2.7 6,492 2.6
             
 Unemployed 11,421 14.9 23,154 13.5 34,575 13.9
             
 Employment threatened 156 0.2 541 0.3 697 0.3
             
 Employed 6,220 8.1 21,714 12.6 27,934 11.2
             
Total 76,816 100.0% 172,123 100.0% 248,939 100.0%

1. CEIC, "The Canada Manpower Training Program: A policy review", p. 23

2. CEIC, Program Analysis Division, Employment Training Branch, unpublished statistics.


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