Budget 2015-2016 - Press Release 3 of 6 - The Québec Economic Plan - Initiatives to Promote Labour Market Performance

QUÉBEC, March 26, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - To mitigate the impact of the aging of the population on the available labour pool, the government is proposing several initiatives in its Economic Plan to provide for a better match between training and the needs of businesses and to strengthen the contribution of immigrants to the labour market. The measures being put in place will total $166 million over the next five years.

"Measures must therefore be taken immediately to improve the labour market's performance and ensure that Québec can count on a qualified labour force that is large enough to meet the needs of businesses," Minister of Finance Carlos Leitão declared.

Ensuring a better match between training and the needs of businesses
Measures totaling $123 million over five years are being provided for to support training by:

• raising from $1 million to $2 million the payroll threshold for businesses under the 1% law on training to ease the administrative burden for 8 000 SMBs;
• making $70 million in new funding available to the Commission des partenaires du marché du travail to meet the training needs of businesses;
• adapting certain training programs to emphasize workplace learning, for a total of up to $7.8 million;
• enhancing the tax credit for on-the-job training by $22.8 million;
• implementing a new Objectif emploi program to encourage the available workforce to participate more in the labour market, for a total of $20 million.

Strengthening the contribution of immigrants to the labour market
Considering the aging of Québec's population and the labour shortage in certain sectors of the economy, immigration is a key asset for Québec's economic development. In this context, the government is working on the development of a new policy on immigration, diversity and inclusion.

The Economic Plan provides for actions aimed at strengthening the contribution of immigrants to the labour market, totalling $22.5 million over the next three years:

• promoting the recognition of immigrants' skills and experience, for $2.8 million;
• promoting the acquisition of occupation-related language skills, for $2.8 million;
• supporting the employment integration of immigrants and visible minorities, for  $6.8 million;
• supporting the Interconnection program of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, for $3.0 million;
• encouraging immigrant regionalization, for $7.3 million.

"In addition to responding to the manpower needs of the labour market, immigration contributes to innovation and entrepreneurship and is a source of capital for the Québec economy. Québec must be able to count on the contribution of all types of talent to support its growth and prosperity," the Minister said.

SOURCE Cabinet du ministre des Finances

Andrée-Lyne Hallé, Press Relations Officer, Office of the Minister of Finance, 418 643-5270