Quebec's New Teacher PD Rule for 2026: What's Mandatory and What Counts

How Many Hours of Professional Development Are Now Mandatory for Quebec Teachers?

Quebec's Ministry of Education published its Projet de règlement sur les conditions et modalités relatives à la formation continue des enseignants on April 15, 2026. For teachers in Quebec public and private schools, the new requirements are:

• 30 hours of continuing professional development every two years.
• Hours must be distributed across the 13 professional competencies defined in the Référentiel de compétences professionnelles de la profession enseignante (MEQ, 2020).
• At least 2 of those 30 hours must address Competency 12: Mobilizing Digital Technology (MEQ, Référentiel de compétences professionnelles, 2020).

This is the first time Quebec has set a regulatory floor for teacher PD with a specific digital requirement attached. The regulation does not mandate a particular provider. School-organized professional development qualifies as long as it is documented and linked to the relevant competency.

What Counts as Digital Competency Training Under Competency 12?

Quebec's Competency 12 is defined in the 2020 Référentiel as the ability to "mobilize digital technology for pedagogical and professional purposes while respecting ethics and the protection of privacy and personal data" (MEQ, 2020). The definition is broader than a generic technology introduction: it covers informed tool selection, student data protection, and building digital habits that fit actual classroom needs.

In practice, a 2-hour Competency 12 block could include:

• Setting up a family-communication routine using a tool that complies with Quebec's privacy requirements (see how LinoClass meets Law 25 requirements).
• Co-building a reusable formative-feedback template with your cycle team.
• Designing a student-observation protocol that does not route data through third-party consumer apps.

What does not qualify: a general-audience webinar on digital trends that produces no classroom artifact and makes no direct connection to the participant's own practices.

What Japan's Professional Development Model Shows, and What It Looks Like in a Quebec Classroom

While Quebec sets the new hours requirement, Japan offers a useful guide to what quality PD looks like, regardless of the topic.

Lesson Study (jugyô kenkyû) is a form of professional development credited in Japan's research literature for supporting profound changes in teaching, with roots going back to the 1890s. The structure is simple: a team of teachers plans a single "research lesson" together, one member teaches while colleagues observe (not to evaluate the teacher, but to study student responses), and the group debriefs on what the lesson revealed. Research shows the model produces the strongest effect when teachers genuinely co-design and co-debrief rather than borrowing only the surface structure (Lewis and Perry, ZDM Mathematics Education, 2015).

What this looks like in a Quebec classroom: A cycle team can spend their two Competency 12 PD hours on a stripped-down digital Lesson Study. Step 1: identify one communication or formative-assessment task each teacher repeats multiple times a week. Step 2: co-design a template or routine in the chosen tool. Step 3: one member uses it with their students or families while others review the results. Step 4: debrief together on what worked. Outcome: two documented hours of Competency 12 training and a reusable artifact ready for September.

This approach also addresses the workload pressure the OECD measures directly. TALIS 2024 found that roughly half of teachers across participating countries identify excessive administrative work as their main source of work-related stress, along with marking and communicating with parents, per OECD regression (OECD, The Demands of Teaching: Results from TALIS 2024, 2024). PD that produces an artifact reducing that admin load is a double investment.

How to Build a 2-Hour Competency 12 Block in Your School This September

Here is a concrete protocol a school principal or instructional coach can bring to their team:

Two hours. A reusable artifact. Clean documentation for the PD registry.

LinoClass is built for this kind of PD block: teachers configure their family-communication routine, test formative-feedback templates, and leave with a tool they use on Monday. To book a training block for your team, visit linoclass.ca.