Doing Business in Québec

WORKFORCE TRAINING Québec’s Act to promote workforce skills development and recognition requires most employers with payrolls in excess of C$2 million to spend an amount representing at least 1% of their total payrolls on eligible training expenditures. Employers that do not spend the minimum amount fixed by law are required to pay to the Minister of Revenue the difference between the statutory amount and the amount actually spent. Employers subject to this Act must file and submit a form annually to the Commission des partenaires du marché du travail in respect of the total payroll on which their minimum participation in workforce skills development must be calculated and in respect of their eligible training expenditures. Language Requirements Although most people in Montréal are bilingual (English and French), Québec is predominantly French-speaking and has a long tradition of adopting measures aimed at increasing the use of French in commerce. One measure is the adoption of the Charter of the French language (Charter). The Office de la langue française is the Québec government authority that oversees the implementation of the Charter in business and commerce. BUSINESS NAMES Businesses must have a French name, although a version in another language is also permitted. The names may be used concurrently, provided that the French version appears at least as prominently. Expressions taken from other languages may also appear in the name, provided that a “generic” French language term is used in conjunction with the non-French expression.

In addition to the QPP, employers with 10 or more eligible employees must either offer a form of pension or retirement savings arrangement or subscribe to a “voluntary retirement savings plan” (VRSP). An employer is not required to contribute to a VRSP, but employees must be allowed to contribute through a payroll deduction. Employers may choose to offer other types of pension plans to their employees, although there is no legal requirement to do so. These plans may be specific to a single employer or they may be multi-employer pension plans that are administered by boards of trustees. Pension plans can be defined benefit, defined contribution or hybrid plans. Defined benefit plans are becoming less common in the private sector. Provincial pension benefits standards legislation sets out minimum standards applicable to pension plans and specifies rules relating to many aspects of the pension arrangement. Other retirement savings arrangements (such as a group retirement savings plan) can also be offered by employers. PAY EQUITY Employees in a job predominantly held by women have a right to be paid a wage equal to the wages earned by employees in a job predominantly held by men, if the positions have the same value in the company. This principle is set out in the Pay Equity Act , which applies to employers with 10 employees or more. The employer’s obligations vary according to the number of employees. These obligations for an employer with 10 to 49 employees include carrying out a pay equity process, and devising a pay equity plan if it has 50 or more employees. Employers with 100 or more employees must also set up a pay equity committee. Regardless of the number of employees, employers are required to submit an annual report to the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et sécurité au travail. This report serves to determine whether an employer will be subject to the obligations set out in the Pay Equity Act .