Employee Training: An International Perspective

Canada’s training effort relative to the rest of the IALS countries, measured in terms of hours of training per employee, was found to be average. The average employee in Canada received 44 hours of training in 1994, similar to the hours of training per employee in Switzerland, the United States and Germany. However, Canada’s training effort was considerably less than the Netherlands (74 hours per employee). One finding of particular interest to Canada is the virtual equality of training effort, measured in hours of training per employee, between Canada and the United States. This comparison is important for Canada because of its extensive trade links to the United States. Also, comparisons between Canada and the United States are more accurate than comparisons to other countries because of the similarity in training institutions between the two countries. By contrast, comparisons of Canada to other countries should be treated as broad indicators, rather than precise measures. Canada’s balance between employer- and employee-supported training was also average. Compared to the United States, for example, Canadian employees usually receive somewhat more training on their own, whereas United States employees tended to receive somewhat more training through their employer. Particularly interesting is the fact that Canada had the highest rate of employees reporting that they wanted to take more career or job-related training. Although interpretations of this statistic differ, we can reasonably conclude that Canadian employees are relatively more supportive of further training than those in the other countries.