Barriers to training access

Gordon B. Cooke is with Memorial University of Newfoundland; he can be reached at 709-737-6204. Isik U. Zeytinoglu is with McMaster University; she can be reached at 905-525-9140 (ext. 23957). James Chowan is with McMaster University; he can be reached at 905-525-9140 (ext. 27967). They can also be contacted at perspectives@statcan.gc.ca. Many researchers contend that a well-trained labour force is a way to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage in today’s global business market (Aragon-Sanchez et al. 2003, Industry Canada 2002, and Turcotte and Rennison 2004). Thus, providing training has been advocated as sound social policy for competitiveness (Conference Board of Canada 2008 and OECD 2006). Recently, the Conference Board of Canada (2008) reported that Canada does not have a focused strategy to ensure that work-based skills training and lifelong education are prioritized. Furthermore, Canadian employers are low investors in workplace training programs on an absolute basis (Betcherman et al. 1998) and relative to their European counterparts (Goldenberg 2006).