Economic training program

Purpose of the Economic Training Centre

Support local organizations

Offer support services to partner companies of the Fonds de solidarité FTQ and its network.

Prepare for retirement

Promote savings for retirement by training the local representative (RL) network.

Empower workers development

Train workers to increase their influence on Québec's socio-economic development.

Services offered

The mandate of the Fonds de solidarité FTQ's Economic Training Centre is to provide support and training services. These services, which are offered by our advisors, cover many fields of activity and networks, but they can be grouped into three main categories.

In the current environment marked by major changes, the Fonds puts people at the forefront of all business transformations. The support provided by our advisors through a field approach contributes to putting in place the winning conditions for a successful human transformation.
Our advisors are members of the asthuce group, a dedicated team of Fonds experts whose mandate is to help partner companies by proposing them smart and practical solutions to solve strategic and operational issues by capitalizing on people as a driver of change.
A broad training program on this topic has been designed for people who are part of several networks. These people could be, for instance, local representatives (LRs) who promote the Fonds in their workplace or in Fonds partner companies where employees are not unionized, LRs who work in service points during the RRSP campaigns or FTQ members who have a role to play in implementing or managing pension plans. This program covers many themes: the market for retirement savings products, the RRSP with the Fonds, planning, saving strategies, taxation, the role of trustees, as well as supplemental plans and their administration. By having a better understanding of these issues, participants can more actively promote retirement savings in their workplace.
The Fonds supports many activities related to regional economic development in Québec and well adapted to the various environments in which they are organized. Through these activities, participants can learn a myriad of things on local and regional development organizations, including the Fonds locaux de solidarité FTQ and the Fonds régionaux de solidarité FTQ, investing, the role of corporate directors, markets and globalization. The training activities promote greater involvement by workers in developing their communities and employment.

Recap of the National Meeting on Local and Regional Development in May 2022

Organized by the FTQ in collaboration with the Fonds de solidarité's economic training centre, the meeting took place on May 18, 19 and 20.

This initiative is in line with the Fonds' mission to educate workers on economic matters so they can increase their influence on Québec's economic development. During this meeting, we discussed regional development, the role of workers in this regard and how to view socio-economic development in a holistic manner, in other words, by placing the social aspect of our economy at the core of our discussions, which we can do thanks to the regions' residents who create wealth through their involvement and their work. Janie Béïque was also on hand to talk about the Fonds’ positioning in the market and the role it can play in the search for solutions to these issues. Québec workers value and are proud of the FTQ’s and the Fonds' presence in the regions.

Socio-economic profiles of the regions

The Fonds has retained the services of the Institut de recherche en économie contemporaine (IRÉC) to update the socio-economic fact sheets for each Québec region in order to have a clear picture of their labour market, business conditions and economic vitality.