Mandatory workplace trainings in Quebec

For many years, the question of which trainings were mandatory for Quebec employees had a relatively straightforward answer: apart from an obligation to train new employees, training was generally recommended rather than required, except in exceptional circumstances.

However, recent legislative developments have marked a significant shift. Quebec’s legal framework now places increased emphasis on employer-provided training, reflecting a broader recognition of training as a proactive risk management tool. While certain trainings remain optional, the evolving socio-political climate and legislative focus on workplace issues makes the implementation of various training programs highly advisable for employers seeking to reduce claims exposure and demonstrate compliance with increasingly complex workplace legislation.

In this article, we examine the latest legislative changes affecting workplace training in Quebec and highlight the growing importance of training as a means of ensuring compliance and mitigating risk for employers operating in the province.

General employment training

Training employees is a fundamental obligation for employers and a critical component of workplace integration, professional development, and occupational health and safety. Comprehensive training ensures that workers understand their responsibilities, acquire the necessary skills, and adhere to job requirements and safety standards.

Training is legally required for employees who are newly hired, performing a task for the first time, adapting to new work methods or technologies, or returning to work after an extended absence. It is also necessary when changes occur in processes, equipment, or workplace conditions that could affect performance or safety.

As part of this training, employees should receive clear and complete information on their immediate supervisor and support resources, wages and work schedules, specific tasks to be performed, approved work methods, safety rules, workplace risks and prevention measures, company policies and operating guidelines, and any hazardous products they may encounter. Training should also cover emergency procedures and reporting obligations to ensure compliance with health and safety regulations.

When training is required by the employer, all training time is considered work time. Employees must be compensated for training sessions, trial periods, meetings, and employer-related travel.

Occupational health and safety

Employers have long been required to provide job-related training to employees, particularly as it relates to methods for safely performing assigned work. However, recent legislative changes have strengthened these obligations by requiring employers to integrate training into their Prevention Program or Action Plan (see our prior publication on these obligations here).

Generally speaking, the Prevention Program or Action Plan, as applicable, must outline measures and priorities for eliminating or, where elimination is not possible, controlling identified risks. As part of recent amendments to occupational health and safety legislation, worker training has been recognized as one of the key measures to be implemented within these programs for identifying and controlling identified risks.

Specific training obligations also apply to designated health and safety roles. For example, an employee appointed as a liaison officer must complete a CNESST-approved training program within one year of designation. Furthermore, members of the Health and Safety Committee, including the Health and Safety Representative, must obtain a certificate for at least one day of theoretical training within 120 days of their designation. This training must be provided by the CNESST or by an organization recognized by the CNESST for this purpose. Participating members may take time off work without loss of pay to attend these trainings.

Training is intended to address key topics such as occupational health and safety laws, prevention programs, committee roles and operations, risk identification and analysis, accident investigation, record keeping, collaboration among members, and consideration of specific worker realities (e.g., gender and age). The Health and Safety Representative’s training must also cover their specific responsibilities. This includes making recommendations on psychosocial risks, identifying tasks prohibited or unsafe for workers under 16 years of age, and recognizing situations that may pose danger to those workers. Additional topics include workplace inspections, assisting workers in exercising their rights, participating in inspector visits, conducting risk analyses and accident investigations, and handling complaints to the CNESST.

Training on hazardous products

Employers may permit the use, handling, storage, or warehousing of hazardous products only if each product is properly labeled, accompanied by a safety data sheet, and workers who are exposed or likely to be exposed have received the necessary training and information to work safely.

To meet this obligation, employers must implement a training and information program that is compliant with the Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System. The training is to be developed by the health and safety committee or, where none exists, in consultation with the certified association or workers’ representatives. This program must explain how to interpret labels, signs, and safety data sheets, outline hazards and precautionary measures for each hazardous product in the workplace, detail emergency procedures and the handling of fugitive emissions, intermediary products, and hazardous waste, and provide instructions on accessing and using safety data sheets, including the technology involved and the process for obtaining hard copies.

First aid

First aid training in the workplace is an integral part of the First Aid in the Workplace Program, administered by the CNESST. This program regulates training, provides subsidies, and ensures compliance with the First-aid Minimum Standards Regulation. 

Employers have several obligations under this framework. They must ensure that the required number of first aiders, as prescribed by the Regulation, is present at all times and that their names are posted in a clearly visible location. Where additional first aiders are needed, employers must appoint workers whose duties allow them to administer first aid promptly and efficiently, and then register these workers for training.

Any worker designated as a first aider who does not hold a valid certificate issued by an organization recognized by the CNESST is entitled to take the necessary time off work to obtain or renew this certification without any loss of remuneration. To qualify as a first aider, the worker must successfully complete a 16-hour course delivered by a CNESST-accredited training organization (available in French only). Certification must be renewed every three years by retaking the course. 

Furthermore, first aiders are deemed to be at work during both training sessions and any interventions, and they must be compensated accordingly.

Psychological harassment and sexual violence in the workplace

For many years, Quebec employers had limited obligations regarding harassment-related training. This changed on September 27, 2024, when new requirements came into effect mandating that the psychological harassment prevention policy required by law include information on training programs for employees, as well as for individuals designated to manage complaints or reports. On the same date, the Labour Code introduced an additional obligation in unionized workplaces, requiring arbitrators adjudicating grievances related to psychological harassment to complete mandatory training on sexual violence.

The legislative focus on this issue has continued to evolve. On October 29, 2025, the Government of Quebec tabled a proposed regulation that, if adopted in its current form, would significantly expand employer responsibilities. The Regulation Respecting the Measures to Prevent or Put a Stop to Sexual Violence would require employers to provide all workers with training on the prevention of sexual violence, refreshed every three years. This training would need to be sufficiently comprehensive to ensure that employees are equipped to understand and respond appropriately to sexual violence in the workplace. It would cover the definition and various forms of sexual violence, its impact on individuals and the broader work environment, the respective obligations of employers and workers, the rights and recourses available to employees, and best practices for responding when witnessing or becoming aware of such situations. Importantly, the training would have to be delivered by a qualified individual with the necessary knowledge, training, or experience to identify and analyze risks related to sexual violence.

Although psychological harassment training is not currently mandated in a specific format or frequency, the fact that employers are required to include information on training programs in their psychological harassment prevention policy suggests that training is mandatory. If an employer does not offer training (and has no training references in its policy) it may be very difficult for the employer to demonstrate that it has met its legal obligation to take “reasonable action” to prevent psychological harassment.

Privacy

Quebec’s privacy legislation imposes strict obligations on businesses to protect personal information. While the law does not expressly mandate employee training, the Act Respecting the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector (the “Private Sector Act”), requires that an enterprise establish and implement governance policies and practices regarding personal information that ensure the protection of such information.

In particular, such policies and practices must provide a framework for the keeping and destruction of the information, define the roles and responsibilities of the members of its personnel throughout the life cycle of the information and provide a process for dealing with complaints regarding the protection of the information. Providing employee training on data handling is one of the most practical and effective ways to meet these requirements, while also guarding against the greater consequences that may arise in the event personal information is mishandled. Similar to the point that we raised regarding psychological harassment training, it can be difficult to demonstrate that appropriate measures were taken to protect the personal information in the absence of appropriate training.

It is worth noting that the Private Sector Act recognizes the ability for the person in charge of the protection of personal information (i.e. the Privacy Officer) to implement training activities regarding the protection of personal information for project participants any time a company is involved in a project to acquire, develop or overhaul an information system or electronic service delivery system involving the collection, use, communication, keeping or destruction of personal information.

Although training is not expressly mandated by law, it is a critical step to avoid significant penalties for non-compliance, which can reach up to $25 million or four percent of worldwide turnover, whichever is greater. Privacy breaches can also lead to individual or class claims being brought by impacted data subjects. In Quebec, privacy laws are framed around the principle that businesses must take the “security measures necessary to ensure the protection of the personal information collected, used, communicated, kept or destroyed and that are reasonable given the sensitivity of the information, the purposes for which it is to be used, the quantity and distribution of the information and the medium on which it is stored”.

Offering robust privacy training to employees handling or having access to personal information is an obvious measure to be adopted towards satisfying this standard and protecting your organization from financial and reputational risk.

Requirement to invest in employee training

Pursuant to the Act to Promote Workforce Skills Development and Recognition and the Regulation respecting eligible training expenditures, any employer in Quebec whose total payroll for a calendar year exceeds $2 million is required to participate in workforce skills development for that year. This participation involves allocating an amount equal to at least one percent of the employer’s total payroll to eligible training expenditures. If an employer’s eligible training expenses are less than one percent of its annual payroll, it must contribute the difference to the Workforce Skills Development and Recognition Fund.  

Development activities include any initiatives designed to promote the creation and use of diverse training methods, enabling workers to acquire and master workplace skills and have those skills formally recognized, with the objective of increasing access to trades and enhancing the transferability of learning. Training may be offered by a recognized educational institution, a training body (including a non-profit organization), a multi-employer training service, or an instructor accredited by the Minister of Employment and Social Solidarity.

Employers who meet the established payroll threshold should therefore be ensuring that they are sufficiently investing in employee training on an annual basis to meet this requirement.

Language of trainings

A common question in Quebec is whether employee trainings must be provided in French.

The short answer: any written training materials must be available in French. This is a legal requirement pursuant to applicable language laws.

For training provided orally, delivering them entirely in French is not strictly mandatory. However, employees have a general right to work in French and must be able to understand the content for the training to be effective. Accordingly, if videos or presentations in a language other than French are used, French subtitles which are accurate, properly spelled and easy to follow, or another clear form of translation should be provided.

In practice, if a training session includes any written component, such as handouts, slides, or reference guides, those materials must be translated into French. The goal is to ensure that French-speaking employees can fully understand and benefit from the training without having to default to another languages.

Our bilingual team of Quebec employment and labour lawyers is available to assist your business with any further questions you may have regarding training obligations in Quebec or to work with you to design and deliver training on these matters.