Adult Education and Training Survey (AETS)

Summary of changes

Activity on this program started: 1983

Reference period of change - 2002

This survey covers participation in all types of formal training. However, as of the 2002 reference period, the AETS focuses on job-related training.

This survey has been discontinued as of 2008. The data are now collected by the Access and Support to Education and Training Survey (ASETS, record number 5151).

Target population - This is a change from the population targeted by the AETS before the 2002 reference period, which consisted of Canadians aged 17 years of age and older. A primary consideration for this change was the practical difficulties in applying the definition of adult education to individuals in the 17 to 24 years of age group. By definition, adult education excludes students who are still involved in their first or initial stage of schooling. As previous AETS did not precisely identify students still in their initial stage of schooling, analyses using these data had to rely on an ad hoc definition of adult learners. According to this definition, individuals aged 17 to 24 who were not in one of the following situations were excluded from the analysis: full-time students subsidized by an employer and full-time students over 19 enrolled in elementary or secondary programs.

Instrument design - The 2002 survey (conducted in 2003) focussed on job-related training and education, while the 1997 survey (conducted in 1998) gathered information on all training and education activities, job-related or not.

Reference period of change - 1989

The Adult Education and Training Survey (AETS) began in 1990 (reference period 1989). It resulted in a marriage of what until this time had been two discrete concepts: education and training.

Reference period of change - January 1984 to December 1985

The Adult Training Survey (ATS) which was conducted in 1986 (reference period January 1984 to December 1985), was explicitly limited to training and education for work or employment, leading to a serious under-representation of other learning events. The survey also extended the reference period from 12 months to 24 months and the survey limited the target population to those between 16 and 65.

Reference period of change - 1983

In the Adult Education Survey (AES) which was conducted in 1984 (reference period 1983), the term "training" was not explicitly used. This resulted in a serious under-representation of training events.