Some indicators show a tendency for learning demand to expand, including demand for training of those workers who provide training. In some large firms in Quebec, the definition of an employee's skills and, consequently, training needs, no longer relates solely to his or her ability to perform a set of technical tasks and master new knowledge, but tends also to include the ability to transfer his or her knowledge and expertise to other employees and, to this end, to acquire certain so-called universal or "transversal" skills.

Where ALT evaluation practices are systematized, which is true of only one-third of firms, they tend to be limited to the first level, where participants' overall satisfaction is verified (Dunberry, 2006). To the extent, however, that ALT is becoming more closely linked to production requirements, businesses tend to monitor the impact of ALT activities in practice, that is to say, on the productive activity at the level of the operators themselves. Regular meetings of internal committees (management, customer service, quality control, health and safety, labour relations, etc.) provide opportunities that are increasingly being used for informal or occasional evaluations of ALT, as well as to diagnose future needs. The transfer of learning into productive activity and the active managerial practices required for effective transfer have recently become a focus of research (Bouteiller and Cossette, 2007).

Thus, significant progress has been made: the gap in workplace training in relation to the other provinces of Canada has almost been closed, the legislation was overhauled in 2007, province-wide consultations have been undertaken, the apprenticeship program has been updated, innovation is being promoted, research has developed and a reference framework has been introduced for the recognition of qualifications acquired on the job. Perhaps the greatest breakthrough, however, has been the sustained participation of all economic actors throughout the last 12 years and the voluntary regulation that has thus been introduced, including the 1% obligation, which was accepted by previous consensus in advance of the legislative decisions in both 1995 and in 2007.

Several challenges remain and are currently being discussed:

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Return to note 63 The higher the number of companies providing training, the lower the number of companies paying into the FNFMO.