More important still is the fact that, despite a rise between 1997 and 2002, the participation rate in employer-sponsored ALT in small firms remained significantly lower in Quebec in 2002 than in the rest of Canada (a difference of 4 to 5 percentage points), contrary to what we found in the case of firms with more than 100 employees.

Our data also show (Table 4.4) that while the difference between small and large firms declines very significantly in the case of informal learning, it cannot be said that such education and training tends to be better developed in small firms, where it would function as a substitute. Informal learning exists in all workplaces and even people employed by large firms are somewhat more likely to report the existence of such forms of learning. Certainly, informal learning is an invisible but no less important part of learning efforts (Livingstone, 1999), but it does not replace structured learning; rather, it complements it, not to mention the fact that it is also given unequally according to individuals' qualifications. ^{Footnote 41}

These data concerning low rates of participation in ALT in small firms should be viewed in light of the decision made by the Government of Quebec in 2004 to exempt companies whose total payrolls were under one million dollars from the requirements of the legislation. In 2003, of the 37,346 companies subject to the Act, 26,278 had total payrolls below $1 million, which left some 11,000 companies still subject to the Act in 2004 (see Table 2.1). There is a large gap to be filled here in order to allow these smaller firms and their employees to meet the same requirements for continuing skills development.

Voyer (2007) points out that the Act neglects a significant segment of atypical professionals (people in part-time work, temporary jobs or self-employment) who also need ALT. The mutuelles de formation could be an emerging device for such atypical workers. The last Five-Year Report specifically mentioned problems in putting such initiatives in place in the absence of more appropriate regulations. In a press release distributed following the enactment of Bill 5, Michel Bérubé stated that the updating of Bill 90 would make it possible to: "establish [mutuelles] in order to bring together companies that need to structure their education and training. These [mutuelles] will be useful for small companies that often experience problems with respect to training and human resources management" (transl.). ^{Footnote 42}

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