1% Law: Labour unions demand Quebec government postpone changes

A worker welds a piece of steel at a Manac semi-trailer manufacturing facility in Saint-Georges, Quebec, Canada, on Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Photographer: Graham Hughes/Bloomberg)

Labour unions are calling on the Quebec government to postpone the changes it plans to make to the One Per Cent Law on workforce training, saying they fear a decline in quality.

Last week, Employment Minister Pascale Déry announced changes to Quebec’s Act to promote workforce skills development and recognition, better known as the One Per Cent Law.

In particular, it aims to give greater recognition to informal training in the workplace; that is, training provided by an experienced employee to another.

While the idea was well-received by employers, labour unions were less than convinced.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ), Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) and Centrale des syndicats démocratiques (CSD) expressed concern about the quality of the informal training.

The four federations emphasized that training should lead to certification, support professional mobility and ensure sustainable adaptation to technological and economic changes.

They say they are now asking the Quebec government to postpone its plan to reduce regulations and instead launch a pilot project, the parameters of which would be determined in collaboration with labour partners, to allow time for a comprehensive analysis of the system.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 14, 2026.