MFOR training grant for Quebec manufacturers: funding training on new equipment

Why manufacturing can qualify for the 75 % enhanced rate

The Workforce Training Measure (MFOR), business component, is Services Québec’s main direct grant for developing the skills of employed workers. It is not an automatic tax credit: it takes the form of a funding agreement negotiated with the business advisor at the regional Services Québec office responsible for your plant.

For most professional, management or routine technical training, assistance is generally up to 50 % of eligible costs. Section 2.6.1.8 of the Guide des mesures et des services d’emploi, however, provides an enhanced rate of 75 % for training made necessary by the purchase or introduction of new equipment or new technologies to raise productivity.

Buying a new machining centre, adding a robotic cell or rolling out a manufacturing execution system (MES) directly changes the work of operators, machinists and technicians. The training costs to qualify your staff on these new processes become eligible for this 75 % assistance.

The Services Québec contribution is generally limited to $100,000 per agreement. Larger projects needing more assistance fall under large training projects (MFOR-E). The 75 % rate is a negotiating ceiling: the final contribution depends on the budget available in your region during the fiscal year, which runs from April 1 to March 31.

Typical training: robotics, CNC machining, maintenance and lean

To qualify for the 75 % enhanced rate, the activity must fall within the activities recognized in section 2.9 of the official guide. Training must meet a specific need tied to changes in jobs and keeping people employed.

In Quebec plants, four broad types of learning can be presented; the enhanced rate requires that the training be made necessary by new equipment or a new technology:

• Robotics and industrial automation: programming and running articulated or collaborative robot cells (cobots), programming industrial controllers (PLC) and human-machine interfaces (HMI).
• Digital machining and advanced manufacturing: programming multi-axis CNC machining centres, CNC turning, laser cutting and computer-aided manufacturing software (CAM).
• Advanced industrial maintenance: preventive and predictive maintenance, electromechanics, instrumentation, laser alignment and troubleshooting on automated lines.
• Lean manufacturing: changeover time reduction (SMED), value stream mapping (VSM), structured 5S and Kaizen projects to cut production waste (generally up to 50 %, unless the training follows from new equipment or technology).

The official guide sets strict rules on format. Training must be given by a qualified trainer (external or internal), follow a structured training plan with measurable objectives and end with an assessment and a certificate of completion for each participant.

Mandatory training: eligible only in exceptional circumstances

Section 2.9 of the ministerial guide sets a limit: skills upgrading required by a law or regulation is eligible only in exceptional circumstances. Unless those apply, the following training usually stays at the employer’s cost:

• Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) training;
• basic health and safety courses required by the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST);
• basic workplace first aid certifications;
• basic regulatory forklift training and renewal of mandatory qualification cards;
• standard regulatory lockout procedures.

There is a technical distinction. Advanced training in process safety, machine safety engineering or securing a robotic cell to CSA Z434 standards can be recognized if it goes beyond minimum regulatory requirements and is built into the overall technology plan.

Industry symposiums, conventions, trade shows and one-day seminars are also excluded (0 %). Services Québec does not fund networking events or commercial information sessions without a structured learning framework.

Eligible costs and how wages are treated

The MFOR grant does not fund every cost of an industrial project. It applies to the eligible expenses accepted in the agreement (section 2.6.1.7):

The key rule concerns the wages of employees being trained. They are an eligible expense up to a reimbursable maximum of $25 an hour, excluding benefits, commissions and dividends, but they are not granted automatically: they depend on the advisor’s analysis, the orientations adopted and budget availability. Literacy projects at 100 % must include employee wages up to $25 an hour.

Worked example for a manufacturing plant

Take a 40-employee precision machining SME in Quebec. It invests $450,000 in a 5-axis CNC machining centre and a robotic bending cell. To run this equipment, it organizes a three-month qualification program for eight operators and machinists.

Out of a total training budget of $52,700, the eligible costs accepted by Services Québec come to $21,500. At the 75 % enhanced rate, the grant could reach $16,125.

The business is left with $36,575, mainly the pay of its eight operators ($31,200) and its 25 % share of training costs ($5,375). If the advisor accepted wages at the $25 an hour maximum (1,040 h × $25 = $26,000), eligible expenses would be $47,500 and the grant could reach $35,625. That expense is not granted automatically. Services Québec pays the grant after training, on submission of supporting documents and signed attendance sheets. Test your own plan in the MFOR calculator.

Stacking with the C3i and R&D tax credits

Quebec manufacturers often use several public programs at once to modernize. The MFOR fits directly alongside the investment and innovation tax credit (C3i) and scientific research and experimental development (SR&ED) credits in Quebec.

Tax rules forbid funding the same expense twice: any direct government assistance received reduces the base of expenses eligible for a tax credit. In a plant modernization project, the programs fit together because their cost bases are naturally separate:

Keeping tax bases separate and internal trainers

For plant equipment, the MFOR and the C3i fit together fully. Because the MFOR funds at most 75 % of training fees and the C3i reimburses part of the machine purchase cost, no cross-deduction is needed. The manufacturer claims all of its eligible equipment investment for the C3i with Revenu Québec, and the MFOR grant does not cut into the tax credit.

For SR&ED, if the wages of operators in training are not accepted in the MFOR agreement, no government assistance affects their payroll; if they are accepted, the assistance received must be taken into account. Watch internal trainers too: if a technician’s or production engineer’s wage is subsidized at 75 % by the MFOR while they train colleagues, those same hours cannot go into an SR&ED claim without a deduction.

To keep your files sound with Revenu Québec, the Canada Revenue Agency and Services Québec, keep separate project accounts that distinguish:

• equipment purchase and commissioning invoices (eligible for the C3i);
• training fee invoices and training attendance sheets (eligible for the MFOR);
• timesheets describing experimentation and technical uncertainty work (eligible for SR&ED).

Common mistakes by manufacturers

Five mistakes come up repeatedly in MFOR files from manufacturers:

1. Starting training before the agreement is signed: the MFOR has no retroactive effect. Any trainer invoice paid or hour delivered before Services Québec signs the agreement is rejected.
2. Burying training in the machine purchase quote: listing courses inside the overall equipment contract stops Services Québec from isolating training costs. Always ask the supplier for a separate invoice showing the trainer’s hourly rate, the number of hours and the course content.
3. Assuming operator wages will be covered: they are eligible up to a reimbursable maximum of $25 an hour, but not granted automatically. Build a budget that works without them.
4. Trying to fund mandatory regulatory training: applying for standard WHMIS, basic first aid or basic CNESST certifications is likely to be refused, since section 2.9 admits them only in exceptional circumstances.
5. Neglecting reporting documents: final payment requires paid invoices, bank proof of payment, daily attendance sheets signed by each worker and end-of-training certificates.

How we help with manufacturing projects

Canadian Funding Partners supports Quebec manufacturers in preparing, negotiating and managing their applications to Services Québec:

1. Review of your industrial investments (robotic cells, CNC centres, line upgrades) and confirmation of fit with the 75 % enhanced rate.
2. A structured training plan that meets section 2.6.1.6 of the official guide, with learning objectives and skills certificates.
3. A detailed budget that separates eligible training costs from excluded items, to ease your regional advisor’s review.
4. Coordination with your tax credit claims (C3i and SR&ED in Quebec) to keep expense bases separate.
5. Ongoing support until the agreement is signed, and through the reporting stage so your grant can be paid.

Regional rules for manufacturers are covered on our Montérégie and Capitale-Nationale pages, and the technology rules on the MFOR for technology companies.

What Canadian Funding Partners does

Canadian Funding Partners helps businesses identify relevant funding programs and coordinate their applications with specialized partner firms. Where a file needs accounting or engineering expertise, that work is done by qualified professionals at those firms. We do not administer the MFOR and do not represent Services Québec. We do not promise any financial result; grants remain at the discretion of public authorities. To review your equipment project, book a free eligibility assessment.