Canada ranks first by a substantial margin among OECD member countries in the proportion of the adult population whose highest level of educational attainment is the completion of a programme of short-cycle tertiary education. Short-cycle tertiary education (SCTE) refers to the types of programmes typically offered by community colleges and similar educational institutions, of at least two years duration, and predominantly vocationally oriented. This article argues that Canada’s outlier status in SCTE attainment is largely due to its heavy reliance on community colleges rather than secondary schools, industry-based VET, or universities of applied sciences for workforce preparation. The article provides some data on the relative extent of use of these different vehicles for workplace preparation in Canada and some other countries, and it explores some of the implications of Canada’s reliance on community colleges for vocational education and training. Although the focus the article is on Canada, it raises general questions about international differences in workforce preparation strategies. © 2020 The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd.
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