How many Canadian employers are offering training?

StatCan survey shows which sectors most likely to offer mentoring, buddying at work

BY Jim Wilson 04 Mar. 2025

Only 34.9 per cent of Canadian businesses plan to provide staff training in classrooms, workshops, or online over the next 12 months.

That’s according to the Canadian Survey on Business Conditions from January to early February 2025, by Statistics Canada.

Businesses in the following industries are the ones most likely to invest in training:

finance and insurance (56.1 per cent)

health care and social assistance (49.4 per cent)

information and cultural industries (46.6 per cent)

On the other hand, among businesses that do not plan to implement any staff development measures (50.3 per cent), the most common reason cited was that no training was needed at this time (76.4 per cent).

“Canadian companies, by and large, spend less money on training for their entire employee base than our competitors in other OECD nations,” Jeff Doucet, CEO of Thrive Career Wellness, previously told Canadian HR Reporter.

Mentoring in Canada

Also, just over one-quarter (25.7 per cent) of businesses plan to use mentoring or buddying to develop staff, finds the survey.

This is led by employers in: 

finance and insurance (38.0 per cent)

arts, entertainment and recreation (32.7 per cent)

administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (30.7 per cent)

Mentorship has long been a critical tool for employee development, but shifting workplace dynamics has led to more self-directed programs, according to Helen Davies, senior vice president of talent at TD.