The Canadian government is meeting the rising demand for highly skilled workers with a $296.4 million national dropout prevention initiative over five years. This document, written in both English and French, describes the initiative. More than half of the funds will be allocated to programs and services, more than a quarter to mobilizing partnerships, and the remainder to raising public awareness. The dropout rate is now at 30 percent, with a population drawn from all neighborhoods, backgrounds, and races. Common dropout characteristics include difficulty in reading, lagging one or more grade levels behind peers, and working more than 15 hours per week. The proportion of dropouts is twice as high for low-income families as for others. Programs and services will focus on expansion of the existing Work Orientation Workshops (WOW) program linked with an expanded CHOICES program, which uses an interactive computer database containing career and educational information. A national non-profit institution will be formed to combine business, labor, the academic community, and the education ministries to develop demonstration programs to test improved career counseling and other dropout prevention strategies. A multi-faceted information program will focus on realistic career options and the fundamental values of a high school education. Statistical data are included on five graphs. (FMW)