Québec implemented several employment law reforms in late 2025. A major change includes a new occupational health and safety regime that took effect on 1 October 2025, requiring employers to implement a prevention program or action plan depending on establishment size. Other key changes took effect from 28 October 2025, including a new unpaid public health emergency leave and expanded unpaid reservist leave.
Background
The new occupational health and safety regime was implemented through amendments to the Act Respecting Occupational Health and Safety that took effect from 1 October 2025.
The other key changes that took effect on 28 October 2025 were introduced through amendments to the Act Respecting Labour Standards and the Act Respecting Occupational Health and Safety.
Key details
New occupational health and safety regime
Quebec passed the Act to Modernize the Occupational Health and Safety Regime (the “Act”) in 2021, expanding health and safety obligations beyond traditionally high-risk industries.
Prior to the Act, only employers in certain high-risk sectors were required to maintain formal prevention programs. An interim regime under the Act took effect from 6 April 2022, which retained those existing obligations for employers in high-risk sectors and imposed new obligations on employers in all other sectors based on employee count, as follows:
Establishments with 20 or more employees were required to record the identification and analysis of risks that may affect...
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