Maintaining a Competitive Workforce: Employee-Based Training in the Canadian Economy

Just how important is employer-based training to Canada's competitive position globally? How do we rank among other industrialized nations? On what basis should we calculate the returns to education and training, and how should the calculations be used in the development of government policy? Canada has a delivery system of education that permits its citizens to acquire some of the best skills on earth. But have we become too complacent? Should we begin to recognize that employer-based training rather than traditional education is appropriate? The reader will appreciate that this is far from an academic debate. There are likely to be federally initiated changes to the public funding of higher education during the next few years, and this will have implications for the education and training right across the country. This monograph will be required reading for anyone interested in Canada's competitive position, the state of Canadian education and the readiness of Canadian workers for the economy of tomorrow.