Forging closer ties between educators and employers is necessary in order to ensure vocational and technical education adapted to the current and future needs of the labour market. On-the-job training through work-study programs is one of the means proposed by the ministère de l'Éducation to bring schools and the workplace closer together.

This guide, entitled The Work-Study Approach in Vocational and Technical Education: General Framework, has as a global objective the promotion of the development of work-study programs in vocational and technical education. Its main objective is to provide a clearer understanding of the work-study approach.

It should be noted that in other Canadian provinces and in the United States, "cooperative education" is used as the global term encompassing all types of programs based on a collaboration between school and the workplace. In the Québec context, "cooperative education" is more frequently associated with a particular, remunerated model employed by colleges and universities. The term "work-study program" is therefore used as the global term.

The guide consists of two series of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): 

·    FAQs 1 to 13 give answers to the questions companies ask most frequently about work-study programs and their practicums.

·    FAQs 14 to 16 briefly explain what the company must do at each stage of the practicum