On January 28, 2026, Québec's Minister of Finance broadened the rules for the temporary exemption from health services fund (HSF) contributions for the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors announced in the economic and financial update of November 25, 2025.

The broadened rules are retroactive to January 1, 2026. They have two parts:

• The total payroll requirement has been removed.
• A partial exemption from HSF contributions has been created.

Removal of the total payroll requirement

To determine whether they are eligible for the exemption, employers in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors no longer have to take into account associated employers' payrolls. Instead, they can simply use the proportion of their own payroll that is attributable to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes in Table 2.

Creation of a partial HSF exemption

Certain additional employers in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors for whom a smaller proportion of their payroll is attributable to the applicable NAICS codes will be able to benefit from a partial HSF exemption.

New rules for the temporary HSF exemption

Employers in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors that qualify as exempt specified employers for 2026 and 2027 will not have to pay any HSF contributions for these years.

Employers in the same sectors that qualify as partially exempt specified employers for 2026 and 2027 will benefit from a 50% HSF exemption.

Exempt specified employers

For 2026 or 2027, “exempt specified employer” means any specified employer for whom more than 50% of their wages paid or deemed paid in the year are attributable to activities represented by an NAICS code in Table 2.

Partially exempt specified employers

For 2026 or 2027, “partially exempt specified employer” means any specified employer for whom 25% to 50% of their wages paid or deemed paid in the year are attributable to activities represented by an NAICS code in Table 2.

The new rules are summarized in the table below.

The applicable NAICS codes are shown in the table below.

Periodic remittances of the HSF contribution and filing the RL-1 summary

In 2026 and 2027, the periodic remittances payable by exempt specified employers and partially exempt specified employers as of their first pay period beginning after January 28, 2026, may be reduced as follows:

• by 100% for exempt specified employers
• by 50% for partially exempt specified employers

However, even though the new rules apply retroactively to January 1, 2026, overpayments made after January 1, 2026, cannot be refunded in 2026 or 2027. More specifically, employers cannot apply for a refund of an overpayment until the Summary of Source Deductions and Employer Contributions (RLZ-1.S-V) has been filed for 2026 and 2027. 

Declaratory rule concerning the definition of “specified exempt employer”

The declaratory rule on page 10 of information bulletin 2025-8 (PDF – 486 KB) (November 25, 2025) remains in effect with regard to the definition of “specified exempt employer.”

Moreover, in the new definition of “exempt specified employers” and the definition of the new category “partially exempt specified employers,” only the wages paid or deemed paid by an employer in 2026 or 2027 that are attributable to activities represented by one of the NAICS codes in Table 2 will be considered.

HSF contribution rules for individuals – No change

The HSF contribution rules for individuals for 2026 and 2027 set out in information bulletin 2025-8 (PDF – 486 KB) (November 25, 2025) remain unchanged.

For more information on the broadening of the temporary HSF exemption, see information bulletin 2026-1 (PDF – 349 KB) on the Ministère des Finances website.