Canadian Council on Learning | Conseil Canadien sur l'Apprentissage

Workplace training doing the job in Quebec, says new report

March 4, 2008 Montreal—Today, a new report that analyzes Quebec’s landmark workplace training act—popularly known as the “1% Law”—shows that this legislation has had a significant impact on the way Quebec firms organize and deliver training to their employees.

Written by Paul Bélanger and Magali Robitaille of the Université du Québec à Montréal, and commissioned by the Canadian Council on Learning's Work and Learning Knowledge Centre, the report offers a comprehensive picture of the many ways the act and its provisions may have changed the way training is delivered in Quebec.

The report makes four key findings:

• Comparisons with other Canadian provinces cannot be made because the information does not exist. This report highlights the urgent problems resulting from not having similar comparisons on Adult Learning and Training in organizations across Canada and on the various regulatory policies and practices that guide its development.
• The legislation has had a noticeable effect on the way workplace training is organized and delivered across the province, with more companies actively planning and implementing training for their employees.
• These improvements seem to have played a role in driving up participation in workplace training in Quebec. Between 1997 and 2002 the participation rate rose from 21% to 33%—a dramatic increase.
• Employers, governments, unions and community groups are working together and finding ways to promote adult learning and training.

The first of its kind in North America, the Act to Foster the Development of Manpower Training—best known as the “1% Law”—requires employers who do not devote at least 1% of their payroll to training to invest 1% of the value of their payroll into a co-managed public fund that supports workplace training initiatives in the province.

“Government, business and labour should be proud of the results identified in this report,” says Dr. Paul Cappon, “High quality, accountable workplace training is an integral part of developing and maintaining the kind of skilled workforce that Canada requires in the rapidly changing knowledge economy of the 21st century.” 

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The Canadian Council on Learning is an independent, not-for-profit corporation funded through an agreement with Human Resources and Social Development Canada. Its mandate is to promote and support evidence-based decisions about learning throughout all stages of life, from early childhood through to the senior years.

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