Training in Canada: Progress and Problems

In international terms, no other country except Sweden has devoted relatively as much as Canada to manpower training. During 1972, for example, training expenditures as a percentage of gross domestic product were: Sweden 43%, Canada 37%, France 15% and the US 09%. Although the Canadian and American economies are similar in many other respects, approximately three‐fourths of one per cent of the Canadian labour force is in training at any one time during the year, compared with one‐half of one percent in America (and one percent in Sweden). In addition, Canadian government expenditures on training per labour force member are approximately twice that of the United States. Clearly, such an important policy raises many issues: How did the policy evolve? What are its objectives? What are the different forms of training, and how are they financed? Who obtains training and is it economically worthwhile? Is there a rationale for government involvement in training?