For women nearing retirement, some access issues continue financial support, geographical proximity, adequate information continue to be essential, as do programs which respect in their content and structure women's learning styles. Although child care is seldom a concern, care for sick or disabled family members particularly spouses often is. A major access issue for all women is the absolute availability of high quality programming. In general, resources available for training programs for women are few, and are not always effectively used. For women moving out of the paid labour force this problem is most acute. The educational needs of these women are seldom recognized or assessed and educational programs for them are virtually unavailable. What learning assistance that does exist comes, for the most part, in the form of individual counselling. While this can be a very effective approach to learning, it is not easily available. As one interviewee put it, "You have to be really rich, or a complete wreck ..."

In general then, access issues can be addressed through: the provision of supporting services such as financial assistance, child care, and available information; organizing the context of programs in recognition of women's life experiences, preferred learning styles and actual rather than assumed learning needs; paying attention to the structure and location of programs through part-time and distance educational opportunities; and through equitable allocation of monies to programs of benefit to women.

Our assessment of policy positions related to access yielded some encouraging results. It is clear that messages which CCLOW and other groups have been sending regarding access are increasingly being heard. The framework for training endorsed at the 1986 First Ministers' Conference, for example, emphasizes access issues (Appendix 5) (23). Employment and Immigration Canada, in its evaluation of the Canadian Jobs Strategy acknowledges that eligibility requirements for its programs may unfairly bar some women such as immigrants and refugees from access (24). In general, governments do appear to be recognizing the problem of access and do feel some responsibility to try to respond to it. In particular, explicit or implicit comments which were quite common even five years ago concerning women as a 'secondary' labour force which is therefore, less in need of access to training, are no longer evident.

Unfortunately, there is no cause for complacency. In the area of support services, the only significant positive movement has been in the areas of child care, and, to a lesser degree financial support. The federal, Ontario and Prince Edward Island governments all have developed new approaches to child care policies. The Canadian Jobs Strategy provides training allowances in connection with Job Development and Entry/Re-Entry programming which are, in some circumstances barely adequate. This is an improvement. At the provincial level, provinces such as Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia provide some assistance to single parents who wish to undertake training, although that assistance is clearly inadequate to cover even those limited costs, primarily of transportation and child care which are allowable. We found no consideration in policy for access to information, although there is some recognition that counselors at local Canada Employment Centers are often ill-equipped to serve the needs of women seeking information about job- related learning (25).