OFPPT Special Training Contracts (CSF) 2026-2027: Rates, Caps, Steps

This guide is written for HR directors, plant managers and finance teams of companies operating in Morocco, including subsidiaries of European, Gulf and African groups, who need to plan training budgets with the local funding rules in mind. It separates what the law establishes, what the reference rules say, and where public sources contradict each other. It does not replace the OFPPT procedures manual. For an order of magnitude on your own data, use our indicative CSF simulator.

What is the CSF and who can use it?

A special training contract (contrat spécial de formation, CSF) is the scheme through which the OFPPT, Morocco's vocational training office, reimburses part of the cost of continuing training for private-sector employees. It is funded by the vocational training tax (taxe de formation professionnelle, TFP) that employers declare.

The legal basis is Law No. 60-17 on continuing training for private-sector employees, enacted by Dahir No. 1-18-94 of 5 October 2018 and published in French in Official Bulletin No. 6774 of 2 May 2019. Four provisions frame the scheme:

• The OFPPT runs continuing training (Art. 12), through a dedicated structure that receives and reviews funding requests, signs contracts, follows delivery and carries out controls (Art. 17).
• Funding conditions are set by a procedures manual approved by the OFPPT board (Art. 19).
• The continuing-training budget comes partly from TFP revenue (Art. 23).
• Previous manuals remain applicable until replaced (Art. 32), including the one governing the special training programme contracts.

The public version of the CSF procedures manual posted by the OFPPT dates from May 2006; amended by Amendment No. 2 of 2 June 2014, it remains the reference in force. The OFPPT's CSF page (in French) points to its online portal, portal.ofppt.ma, where the request for access to the CSF system is filed.

For a group subsidiary, the practical point is that the scheme follows the Moroccan employer, not the shareholder. What matters is the company's status as a private-sector employer and its TFP position: according to the OFPPT, the employer must be subject to the vocational training tax and up to date with CNSS for that tax over the "TFP year", from 1 July of year N-2 to 30 June of year N-1; for a private company, the OFPPT's private companies page adds membership of the competent GIAC.

The law also defines continuing training broadly (Art. 7): training courses themselves, but also needs analysis, studies to define the company's training strategy, training engineering, the preparation of training plans and the evaluation of results. That is why the sector GIAC can fund the upstream work, and why a well-built plan has real financial value.

What are the reference rates and caps?

The rate depends on the type of training; the cap depends on the declared TFP. The rules below come from the CSF procedures manual of May 2006 and its Amendment No. 2 of 2 June 2014 and, for engineering, from the GIAC manual and its Amendment No. 1. They give an indicative calculation, before caps, with no commitment.

The scale of caps by declared TFP is set by the manual in force: ask the OFPPT for the one that applies to your financial year. Several blogs publish brackets and uplifts that do not match one another; none should be used without OFPPT confirmation.

Three reading rules prevent most disappointments:

1. A rate is not an amount. The reimbursement depends on the eligibility of each course, the basis used, the cap calculated on your TFP and the quality of the file.
2. The cap is specific to each company. Two companies buying the same course at the same price can receive different amounts.
3. The gap between 70% and 40% is decided before the course. Under the manual, planned training is entered in an annual training plan that results from a training engineering study; Amendment No. 2 specifies that a plan resulting from engineering not validated by the relevant GIAC counts as unplanned training. If the plan has to change during the year, confirm the amendment conditions with the OFPPT before launching the course concerned.

What is the procedure, from access to reimbursement?

The procedure follows the logic of the law: a plan, traceable delivery and a complete reimbursement file. Each step produces documents the OFPPT can audit.

1. Check access to the scheme. The company's TFP position, its account on the OFPPT portal, then the request for access to the CSF system. The OFPPT issues an access certificate (attestation d'accès), which states that the company is eligible and covers diagnosis and engineering actions and all funding requests for the financial year.
2. Prepare the engineering. If your sector GIAC funds the needs analysis or the training strategy study, apply before you commit the expense. The GIAC route is explained in our article on funding a BRCGS, IFS or ISO project with GIAC and CSF.
3. Build and file the training plan. Courses, target groups, headcount, duration, cost, calendar, providers. The CSF forms and form models are published on the OFPPT's private companies page (in French). Confirm with the OFPPT the filing deadline for the plan in your financial year.
4. Deliver the courses and produce evidence. Session by session, not after the fact.
5. File the reimbursement claim. Proof of delivery and payment, in the manual's format. Confirm the list of documents with the OFPPT before filing.
6. Follow the review until payment. Answer requests for additional documents, keep a record of exchanges, reconcile the amount paid with the amount simulated.

Two situations are specific to international groups. First, courses delivered by a group academy or by trainers flown in from headquarters are not automatically "external training" in the CSF sense: depending on the contract and the provider, they may be treated differently, so the classification must be checked before the course is planned. The CSF manual counts as in-house training only training given by an internal trainer of the company or of a group company domiciled in Morocco, and it lists specific evidence for training delivered abroad. How a foreign provider delivering training in Morocco is treated is a case to check with the OFPPT before the course is planned. Second, group-wide e-learning and virtual compliance modules fall outside the CSF, which only covers in-person training.

The plan is the key document. It starts from jobs, not from a catalogue: every course is linked to a role, a skills gap and a requirement (regulatory, customer or standard). For a subsidiary that applies a group training policy, this is where the local plan and the group curriculum have to be reconciled. For hygiene and HACCP training, our article on which HACCP training level fits which role shows how to match each group of staff with its level.

Which filing deadlines apply?

No public date is consistent: depending on the source, the reimbursement claim must be filed by 30 April of the year after the financial year, or by 31 December. Only the OFPPT is authoritative.

This is not a detail. A late file is lost, however good the training was. Our rule is to confirm the year's calendar with the OFPPT before the first course, then work with a comfortable margin on the most demanding date.

Before launching the 2026-2027 financial year, confirm with the OFPPT the filing deadlines that apply and their reference date: end of the course, end of the financial year or payment date.

What evidence can the OFPPT ask for?

The official list of documents is set by the manual in force; the law sets a general duty to provide evidence. Employers must give control officers all useful documents (Art. 28), and controls are carried out on documents and on site (Art. 26).

The consequences of a weak file are written into the law: a breach can lead to partial or full cancellation of the funded action (Art. 29), and sums unduly received must be repaid (Art. 31). For a subsidiary reporting to a group compliance function, this is a liability, not only a missed refund.

For every course, we build at least the following evidence:

• Attendance sheets for each session, trainee by trainee.
  
• Knowledge tests, at entry and exit where the programme provides for them.
  
• End-of-session evaluations.
  
• Numbered certificates, one per trainee.
  
• A training report: objectives, content delivered, results, gaps.
  
• Proof of payment to the training provider.
  
• Administrative documents required by the manual in force, whose list should be confirmed with the OFPPT before filing.
  

At ACG, this evidence is produced and archived in Inspirra, the consulting and training management platform built by Solvitas: QR-code attendance, tests, evaluations and certificates linked to each session and each course. On filing day, or on the day of a control, the file is already complete.

Which mistakes get a file rejected or reduced?

Most rejections have nothing to do with the training and everything to do with the file. These are the mistakes we see most often when we take over files from industrial companies.

1. Training first, planning later. The course moves from the 70% reference rate to 40%, or falls outside the scheme.
2. A plan that is just a list. With no link to jobs and no priorities, it does not survive review.
3. Gaps between plan and delivery. Headcount, dates, duration or provider differ from what was filed, without an update.
4. Incomplete attendance sheets. Missing signatures, half-days not recorded, trainees who cannot be identified.
5. Certificates without a number or a link to the session.
6. Late filing, often because the year's calendar was never confirmed.
7. A simulation treated as an entitlement. The budget was built on an amount nobody could guarantee.
8. Out-of-scope expenses. Consulting, certification audits or investment presented as training.

The last point matters for certification projects. In a BRCGS, IFS, FSSC 22000 or ISO 9001 project, the training can fall under the CSF; consulting, the certification body's audit and capital works do not. Our article on BRCGS, IFS and FSSC 22000 certification costs separates these items, and our guide to ISO 9001 certification in Morocco does the same for a first quality system.

How should you prepare the 2026-2027 year now?

Reverse the usual order: confirmed rules and calendar first, then the plan, then the training orders. This is the list we run through with clients at year end.

• Confirm with the OFPPT the manual, rates, cap scale and deadlines for the year.
  
• Check the company's TFP position and portal access.
  
• Identify your sector GIAC and its conditions for training engineering.
  
• Map jobs and roles, and the requirements on each (regulation, customers, standards, group policy).
  
• Prioritise courses by obligation, deadline, risk and expected benefit.
  
• Simulate the net cost course by course, without presenting it as an entitlement.
  
• Have management approve the plan, then file it before the first course.
  
• Organise evidence from the first session.