Work-related adult learning and training in Quebec has been marked since 1995 by the passage of the Act to foster the development of manpower training. Footnote 29 This Act, which has been implemented gradually in line with the size of the companies affected, Footnote 30 requires employers to invest 1% of their total payroll in the provision of education and training for their staff. Companies that do not report such investments must pay the same amount to the Department of Revenue. The moneys contributed by firms that have not invested the minimum required amount in ALT are deposited in a special fund, the Fonds national de formation de la main-d'oeuvre [National Labour Force Training Fund], FNFMO, which is co-managed by government and labour market stakeholders under the aegis of the Commission des partenaires du marché du travail. These moneys are used to fund innovations or initiatives that promote ALT innovations and projects in firms and sectoral committees, as well as a research program, all on the basis of proposals made by members of the CPMT. Firms, sectoral committees and researchers can submit requests for grants, which may be accepted or refused in light of specific criteria (see 3.2) and in light of grant maximums for each sector.
As the Act was gradually implemented, some 36,000 companies were supposed to meet these requirements and more than 75% of them did. An amendment in January of 2004 exempted all businesses with a total payroll of under $1 million from this obligation, freeing some 25,000 companies from making the payment. Footnote 31 Since this funding is also being implemented gradually, only those companies whose total payroll is more than $1 million received grants from the fund in the early years of the program. In 2005, more than 11,500 employers were subject to Bill 90 (Direction du FNFMO, 2006).
What is the significance of this transformation of the institutional environment in ALT? The quantitative assessment contained in the next chapter will shed light on the scope of Bill 90.
Bill 5 — An Act to amend the Act to foster the development of manpower training and other legislative provisions, which was passed in June 2007, is scheduled to come into force in January 2008. The innovative aspect of Bill 90, which lies in the partnership created among employers, government, unions and the social economy, is naturally retained in Bill 5. The financial aspects of Bill 90 are also retained as they now stand, including the exemption of companies whose total payroll is less than $1 million (see section 2.3.1). There is a threefold thrust to the amendments introduced in by Bill 5: an enhanced role for CSMOs and the CPMT, expansion of the Cadre général de développement et de reconnaissance des compétences de la main-d'oeuvre, and funding for the development of mutuelles de formation ("training mutuals") for SMEs.
Return to note 29 Act to foster the development of manpower training, R.S.Q., c. D-7.1.
Return to note 30 The legislation was applied in three successive stages: first, in 1996 in companies whose total payroll was $1 million and over, then in companies whose total payroll was between $1 million and $500,000 and, finally, in companies whose total payroll was between $500,000 and $250,000.
Return to note 31 A regulation was made for this purpose on November 22, 2003, after an announcement appeared in the Gazette officielle on October 8, 2003.