$ 63 Million to move employees

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Pierre Lavoie
Athlete

Patrick Bellerose

Friday, 30 march 2018, 00:00

UPDATE
Friday, 30 march 2018, 00:00

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At the suggestion of Pierre Lavoie, Québec will grant financial incentives to companies to move their employees.

Indeed, the last budget Leitao provides $ 63 million over five years to create a programme of innovative support that aims to promote physical activity in the workplace “. The sum could be enhanced subsequently, if the program is a success.

Employers will therefore be able to fund various health initiatives in the workplace, such as showers for employees who will run over the lunch hour, or yoga sessions.

The programme will be managed by the ministry of Education, responsible recreation and sport.

Avoid excess

The measure adopted by Quebec, however, is less ambitious than claimed the athlete saguenéen, including the creator of the famous ” blocks of energy “.

Pierre Lavoie was proposed to allow companies to deduct the funding of initiatives that promote the physical activity of the contribution to the health services Fund that each company must pay annually.

Quebec has preferred to act through a program in order to better control costs. The cost of a tax credit is more difficult to predict, argued the office of Finance. In addition, we wish to avoid abuse : the money should not be used to finance the new shower to a CEO.

Economics of prevention

By offering a deduction to the contribution of companies, Pierre Lavoie hoped, however, generate much larger sums than those provided by Quebec, in order to create a true ” economics of prevention “.

The co-founder of the Grand Défi Pierre Lavoie believed that his plan would have leveraged nearly $ 3.5 billion that employers would be able to re-invest in the well-being of their employees.

“There, kinesiologists would be working, nutritionists have had to work, people would go to buy sneakers, enumerated Pierre Lavoie in an interview with The Journal last December. For the moment, the economics of prevention is not well developed. We see that this is not yet in our culture. “

The idea had also received the support of both the employers Council of the Federation des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec.

“It is a great idea because it would not be fair in the consolidated fund, and we would work on prevention, not just on the cure,” had commented the secretary general of the FTQ, Serge Cadieux.