Canada is among OECD countries with a high post-secondary completion rate and high participation in further education (OECD, 2011). Early school leaving in Canada has significantly decreased during the past 20 years, plummeting from 19.2% for men and 14.0% for women in 1990-1991, to 9.7% for men and 5.9% for women in 2011-2012. However, the average rate of 7.8% and the wide variations of early school leaving rates in various regions and among different social groups is a significant concern for Canadian policymakers (Statistics Canada, 2015) and educators (CCL, 2008; Livingstone & Raykov, 2013). The main objective of this study is to examine early school leavers' work and learning participation as well as their interests in participating in various forms of learning. Based on the empirical evidence, the study aims to estimate the feasibility of early school leavers’ re-entry into education and conditions for their retention and attainment of a diploma or certificate. Particular attention will be paid to students from families with a lower socioeconomic status as this often leads to an early entry into the labour force. It may cause students to prematurely assume an adult role and discontinue their primary cycle of education (Tilleczek et al, 2011). The study also examines the impact of labour market conditions on early school leaving since a number of studies demonstrate that higher unemployment rates reduce the likelihood of school dropout (Felgueroso et al, 2011; Department of Advanced Education and Skills, 2014), and that better labour market prospects for low educated workers increases student inclination to leave education (Aparicio, 2010). To examine the consequences and factors that determine early school leaving, this study analyses different economic, social and labour market conditions based on administrative and survey data from Canada. The secondary data analysis was based on the OECD 2012 Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). The sample includes 26,683 participants, 16 to 64 years old from all Canadian provinces. The analysis shows that a large number of early school leavers (35.2%) wanted to enroll in education but, due to some barriers, did not. The analysis also shows that other groups of school dropouts who left education at the ISCED levels 4 and 5 demonstrate even greater unmet demands for education (from 33.6% to 47.3%). Results are discussed in the context of support for participation in adult education from Karasek's (2004) control-demand and active learning perspective.

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