Ottawa, Ontario – Employment and Social Development Canada

The Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Employment and Social Development, announced today that an agreement to renew the Canada–Quebec Labour Market Agreement has been finalized.

The renewed agreement reflects the views of Quebec employers and labour organizations, who met with Minister Kenney during extensive consultations across the province. Through these consultations, it became clear that Quebec already has a long-standing, well-functioning system that puts employers at its centre and requires them to invest in training. This highly structured system includes.

• a formal collaboration body, the Commission des partenaires du marché du travail, which provides a central role in training decisions and labour market training investments for key labour market stakeholders, including business, education and labour, to help match skills training with labour market needs;

• legislation that requires employers to invest in training; and

• the Workforce Skills Development and Recognition Fund, a dedicated training fund sourced from employer contributions and managed by employers and other labour market partners to support employer-based training, with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises.

As the key principles behind the Canada Job Grant—greater employer involvement and employer investment in training—are already formally and legislatively entrenched in the Quebec training system, the Government of Canada is renewing the current Canada–Quebec Labour Market Agreement. In the renewed agreement, the Government of Canada has secured strengthened reporting and accounting to ensure that employers remain at the centre of Quebec’s training system and to better measure the outcomes of funding for training.

Quick Facts

• Quebec's job vacancy rate has increased from 2.1 percent in 2009 to 3 percent in 2013.
• Quebec, through its Act to Promote Workforce Skills Development and Recognition, is the only jurisdiction in Canada that sets a minimum level of employer investment in training.
• In the next 10 years, Canada is expected to need 319 000 new workers in the construction sector, with another 145 000 new workers in the mining sector and 130 000 new workers in the petroleum sector needed by 2020.

Quotes

“The main goal of the Canada Job Grant is to ensure greater employer involvement in training. We recognize that Quebec is already achieving this goal through its formal, legislated training system, which includes mandatory participation of employers, unions and training institutions. The renewed Labour Market Agreement reflects the feedback received from Quebec employers and workers and will help ensure Quebecers have the skills required to fill available jobs.”

- The Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Employment and Social Development