In addition to the concerns which these shifts raise about whether the best interests of employers and women trainees can always be expected to coincide, CCLOW, along with other voluntary organizations, has noted that, in the process of privatization. the total amount of federal money available for training for women under any sponsorship public or private is steadily decreasing. This in turn, has a negative impact on federal-provincial cost-shared programs. In British Columbia, for example, the last Women's Access Coordinator position in the province has recently disappeared (summer 1987), a casualty of federal-provincial cutbacks. Our estimate, based on the results of our research is that the amount of funding available to community colleges across Canada has decreased by approximately 40% in the last five years.

Canada's international record regarding the development of its human resource potential generally is not good (32). But will privatization improve that record? And what specifically are the implications of increased privatization for women?

The shift to increased privatized training is a recent one. As a result, information on who receives how much money to do what kinds of training under what conditions with what results, is sparse. An Ontario study of employers found that firms do not tend to keep good records of the nature and results of in-house training (33). The federal initiatives under Canadian Jobs Strategy have been operational for at most two years, depending on the program. It is too early to come to firm conclusions. However, our study of the impact of privatization has raised a number of issues for consideration and further study.

TABLE 6

Estimated Proportion of CJS Programming
Directed to Traditional Occupations
for Women (1986-1987)

Source: Terry Dance & Susan Witter, "The Privatization of Training: Women Pay the Cost", Women's Education des femmes, Vol. 6, No.1, 1988, p.8