Quebec unveils $3.9B plan to attract 170,000 more workers to offset labour shortage

Quebec is investing an additional $3.9 billion over the next five years to address the labour shortage in the province in the hopes of requalifying and attracting 170,000 workers in certain priority sectors.

Premier Franois Legault unveiled the action plan, dubbed Opration main-d'oeuvre, alongsideLabour Minister Jean Boulet and Higher Education Minister Danielle McCann at a newsconference Tuesday.

Nearly 80 measures targeting six areas of activity will be implemented, including an allowance of $475 per week for unemployed people if they take up studiesin sectors where there is a shortage of workers, as well as scholarships for studentsin higher education.

"With the measures we are presenting today, we want to quickly supply more workersto key sectors for Quebec," Legault said.

For essential public services, namelythe health and social services sectorincluding mental health and youth protection, the education sector and the childcare sector special efforts will be made to try to integrate an additional60,000qualified people.

"The measures announced today will make it possible to increase the hiring of personnel in addition to improving the organization of work and working conditions to promote employee retention," the province said in a statement.

The government has also selected what it considers three strategicsectors information technology, engineering and construction where the province hopes to add 110,000 skilled workers.

Legault said he believes implementing these measures is necessary due to theaging population in Quebec, combined with vigorous economic growth.

Scholarship incentivesfor key fields

The government will also help Quebecersdevelop their skills by making training more attractive in these areas, notably through financial support and work-studyprograms.

Legault said his government will be deploying amajor incentive scholarship program inhigher education, something he said is expected toincrease the number of graduates inessential public services and strategic sectors at CEGEP and university levels.

The targeted professions include analysts, programmers, engineers and engineering technologists, clinical and auxiliary nurses,respiratory therapists, psychologists, social workers, preschool, elementary and secondary school teachers, as well as special education techniciansand early childhoodeducators.

All Quebec students enrolled full time in these priority areas will be eligible for a total of $9,000 in scholarships for a three-year program at the CEGEP level, $15,000 in scholarships for a three-year program at the university level and $20,000 for a four-year program.

Whether students are at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of their schooling, they will begin to be eligible starting in the fall of 2022.

"More students must be attracted to fields in high demand, in order to ensure a better match between the career choices of young adults and the many opportunities offered by the job market," said Higher Education MinisterMcCann.

No plan to increase immigration, Legault says

The announcement comes as corporate pressuremounts on the CAQ governmentto increase immigration in the province, somethingQuebec manufacturers have saidhas a critical impact on labour shortages.

"It's easy just double up the people coming in and we'll do most of the work to get the people in. We'll pay for it," said LouisVeilleux, CEO of Metal Bernard in St. Lambert-de-Lauzon, nearLvis.

But Legault rejected the idea of increasing the number immigrants allowed in Quebec from 50,000 a number to which his government scaled back up just last monthafter slashing it by 20 per cent when the CAQ was first elected in 2018.

"Right now, we receive50,000 immigrants every year, which is [proportionately] more than United States, Franceand most of the countries," he said at Tuesday's news conference when asked if he'll scale up immigration in the face of pleas from business leaders.

"We also have the challenge in Quebec of integrationto learn french. We'll always have this challenge, so we think right now, the integration capacityof 50,000 is at maximum."

ButVeilleux,who is also the founder of Groupe Mundial,which brings together several Quebec manufacturing companies specializing in industrial subcontracting, says accepting more foreign workers could help his company, where he is missing 20 team members.

He says the labour shortage is not just an immediate problem, but one that will affect future growth as well. Without enough workers now, he says companies will hesitate before making any expansion plans.

"The problem is not today, it's further down the road because when companies are having a shortage of people, they stop doing new products, they stop doing new research, they stop searching for new market. There's a lot of things that companies do not do anymore because of shortage," he said.

"In the end, it's going to cost us big time."