This publication, prepared on the initiative of the Canadian Council on Learning's Work and Learning Knowledge Centre, paints a general picture of Adult Learning and Training (ALT) in Quebec firms. It also reflects recent developments, especially the major reforms made by the National Assembly in June 2007 to Quebec's ALT legislation.
It was not our aim to conduct a comparative analysis of work-related ALT in all the provinces of Canada. How could we have done so, when so little is known about the situation in most of the provinces and territories?
However, we can underscore three trends common to Quebec and the rest of Canada. First and foremost, for the last two decades, there has been substantial growth in work- related ALT across Canada, as well as in participation in adult learning as a whole (Statistics Canada, 2003). Since the factors driving the demand for ALT, such as level of qualification of the workforce and introduction of new technologies in the production of goods and services, are themselves on the rise, it can be expected that the growth in demand for learning will also continue. This trend has already been observed in other advanced industrial countries (OECD, 2003) because of the priority placed on ALT in most of those countries (European Commission, 2002).
A second general trend relates to the way in which ALT is developing in firms, namely through sectoral cooperation among employers, unions and governments. To be sure, this interplay is more intense in some sectors of the economy, but it tends to draw other sectors of the Canadian economy along with it. Third, and this is already well documented in the statistical surveys, participation in work-related ALT across the country varies with the size of the company, the job category, the level of initial training received by the labour force and the particular sector of industry.
Within that context, this report allows us to discern three specific features that characterize and highlight the reality of work-related ALT in Quebec. First of all, Quebec has closed much of the gap that existed between it and the rest of the country in 1997. The rate of participation in work-related adult learning and training in Quebec increased from 21% in 1997 to 33% in 2002, an increase of twelve percentage points (see Table A1 attached). Although Quebec is now only two percentage points behind the Canadian average, it is still, according to this indicator, the province with the lowest level of participation. A more detailed analysis shows, however, that the relative stagnation in participation by unemployed persons reduces the overall percentage and conceals the progress made in ALT in Quebec firms during this period, which is precisely when the new Quebec legislation came into force.
This so-called 1% legislation is the most significant specific feature of the situation in Quebec. It requires companies with a total payroll of $1 million and more to spend the equivalent of 1% of this payroll on ALT for their employees, failing which they must pay this amount to a fund managed by the partners through the Commission des partenaires du marché du travail. While this legislation has most likely had a quantitative effect on investment and participation, especially in medium-sized companies, its structural effects are obvious: