Quebec’s 1% Training Law: 2026 Reform Makes Mentoring and Online Training Eligible

Every year, when it comes time to close the books, the same uneasy feeling comes back: your payroll exceeds 2 million dollars, Quebec’s 1% training law applies, and part of that money goes to the Workforce Skills Development Fund without ever coming back to your plant. In a way, you are paying for training you never receive.

The most frustrating part? The real training is already happening under your roof. Your experienced mechanic showing the new hire how to adjust the press, your foreman coaching a recruit through their first weeks on the loading dock: all of that builds very real skills. But until recently, this hands-on knowledge passed along right beside the machine was hard to get recognized as an eligible training expenditure.

That has just changed. In April 2026, the Quebec government announced a major update to the training activities that qualify under the Act to promote workforce skills development and recognition (the skills law), commonly known as the 1% law. Here is what this reform means, in practical terms, for your industrial SME.

What the 2026 reform of the 1% training law changes

According to the announcement published by the Quebec government on April 10, 2026, the reform rests on two main pillars: broadening what counts as eligible training and simplifying the process for employers.

• Recognition of informal training: mentoring and peer coaching in the workplace are now explicitly recognized as eligible training activities.
• Broader criteria: training that builds the ability to adapt to change, work better as a team, communicate effectively, handle the unexpected and make more strategic decisions is now covered.
• Simpler process: a new online tool helps you identify and assess which training activities can qualify as eligible training expenditures, along with a training plan template. A guide on informal training was also announced for June.

As a reminder, here is the basic framework: any employer whose payroll exceeds 2 million dollars must invest at least 1% of it in developing their workforce’s skills, or pay the difference to the Fund. To understand how the whole mechanism works, see our complete guide to Quebec’s 1% training law for SMEs.

Mentoring becomes an eligible training expenditure

This is the most promising change for manufacturing companies. Pairing an experienced employee with a new hire, long considered a grey area, is now recognized as eligible informal training. One clarification published by the government: workplace interns are excluded from this measure.

One caveat, though: recognized does not mean improvised. To qualify, the activity must be part of a structured approach with defined learning objectives. That is exactly the logic behind the workplace apprenticeship program (PAMT), which frames knowledge transfer in the workplace between a journeyperson and an apprentice using a precise skills logbook.

This shift comes at the right time: with retirements accelerating across industry, structuring your mentoring is no longer just good practice, it is a way to protect your company’s hands-on knowledge. We covered this in our article on the 90-day plan before a key employee leaves.

Online training: a recognized format that is now easier to claim

The Commission des partenaires du marché du travail (CPMT) recognizes online training among the eligible formats, on the same footing as classroom or on-the-job training, including costs related to virtual learning. With the new online assessment tool, it becomes much simpler to confirm that a given digital training meets the criteria and to claim it with confidence.

For an industrial SME running shifts, this is a concrete advantage: training delivered on an online training platform can be scheduled around production, is documented automatically (enrollments, progress, certificates) and leaves a verifiable trail, which matters for your record-keeping obligations.

Payroll above $2M: turning the obligation into an investment

Here is how, in practice, to make your 1% work for you instead of sending it to the Fund:

• Take stock of what you already do: pairing programs, new-hire onboarding, coaching by your foremen. A good portion of it probably qualifies since the reform.
• Structure your mentoring: learning objectives, a tracking logbook, a set duration. The workplace apprenticeship program (PAMT) offers a proven framework for your skilled trades.
• Claim your online training: regulatory training, technical upskilling, anything completed on screen with a completion record.
• Keep rigorous records: the CPMT requires you to keep supporting documents for six years (invoices, attendance records, certificates).
• Validate with the government’s online tool before claiming any expenditure you are unsure about.

Two eligible avenues, one partner

At Witeach Formation, a CPMT-accredited training organization, we offer precisely the two avenues this reform has just put in the spotlight. On one side, support to structure your PAMT initiatives and knowledge transfer within your company: mapping critical knowledge, documenting expertise, framing your mentoring. On the other, our online training platform (an LMS built in Quebec), which hosts your content and documents every learning path.

On the training side, our catalogue includes complete online courses such as forklift operation and WHMIS, aligned with your health and safety obligations in the spirit of CNESST requirements. We also offer a free lockout refresher capsule: ten minutes of prevention to sharpen your teams’ safety instincts, and a good preview of what online training can do for your production floor.

The right time to take back control of your 1%

This 2026 reform of the skills law sends a clear message: Quebec wants your 1% to develop your people, not to feed a fund. The mentoring you are already doing and the online training you could roll out tomorrow are now two fully recognized avenues.

If you would like to assess which of your current practices could become eligible training expenditures, or build a simple plan for the coming year, get in touch: the first conversation costs nothing, and it could very well help you win back your 1%.