Workplace training is not just a human resource practice; it is a business strategy. The existing labour pool and population form an important part of meeting current and future labour force needs.

In recent years, people are more aware of the value of workplace learning. But we must remove access barriers to help increase the benefits of workplace training. Workers with low skills need information about the benefits of lifelong learning. Workers with low skills and older workers need effective opportunities to participate. Smaller employers need support to find innovative ways to increase the amount of formal training they can offer.

The primary barriers that prevent workers from participating in workplace and workforce literacy programs include the following:

• Too busy at work;
• Inconvenient time and/or location;
• Non-child family responsibilities; and
• Lack of child care or elder care.

Many northern workers either cannot or will not leave their community for training. And other barriers make it hard for many workers to move such as housing shortages and overcrowded housing, family responsibilities, and travel and living expenses.

Few policies or programs exist to actively encourage more women to enter non-traditional occupations. One example is the Women in Oil and Gas program of the NWT Status of Women Council.

Barriers for small and medium-sized employers are greater than for large ones. Primary barriers for employers to implement workplace and workforce programs are:

• Cost of training and cost of lost working time;
• Lack of information about where to get training and how to organize and provide it; what training is effective;
• Not convinced the return on investment is good enough, especially compared with other investments; and
• Worry about losing workers and, therefore, losing the investment – through ‘poaching’ or when workers quit for a different job.