(Quebec) To address labor shortages, Quebec will offer a new allowance of $475 per week to unemployed workers who agree to return to school in a target sector. Legault’s government on Tuesday launched Operation Manpower, which is accompanied by 3.9 billion investment.
“We must deal a big blow,” Prime Minister Francois Legault said on Tuesday during a press conference accompanied by the Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Solidarity, Jean Boulet, and the Minister of ‘Higher Education, Danielle McCann’.
Quebec has set itself the goal of rehabilitating and attracting nearly 170,000 workers in six major sectors: health and social services, education, childcare services, engineering, information technology, and construction. “We need to fill two types of jobs: those that I would call basic and those that are strategic,” said Mr. Legault. “But there may be other sectors to be added,” he said.
His government’s new “operational workforce” is accompanied by 3.9 billion in investments over five years, of which 2.9 billion is in additional credits. This process essentially follows the measures announced in Gerrard’s mini-budget last week.
It’s a lot of money, a lot of money because it’s one of the main priorities we have as a society over the next few years.
Francois Legault
A new element, Quebec announced on Tuesday the creation of an allowance of $475 per week for “people without a job” who “agree to go to study” in the six target areas. “We will give them $475 per week, equal to the minimum wage, not to work, but to go and study in sectors where there is a shortage,” the prime minister said.
Minister Boulet spoke of a “fairly exceptional” measure that would allow “no one to be excluded”.
“It is the income support that will allow people, for example, who earn less than $475 in unemployment to benefit from teams and undertake training or rehabilitation activities,” Mr. Boulet identified. “It will allow Quebec to become a learning community where everyone will have the opportunity to train or rehabilitate,” he added on Tuesday.
To be eligible for this allowance, you must have left employment two years ago.
generous scholarships
Added to this is the generous scholarship program announced last week. At the end of their training, students will receive up to $9,000 in college, and $15,000 to $20,000 in university, depending on whether the program will last for three or four years. This is in addition to financial aid for students.
Eligible occupations are those related to target sectors, such as analysts, programmers, engineers, engineering technologists, clinical nurses and assistants, respiratory therapists, psychologists, social workers, and teachers of pre-school, elementary and school education. educated. It is said that a list of eligible programs will be published soon.
Tous les étudiants québécois inscrits à temps plein dans les domaines prioritaires déterminés seront par ailleurs admissibles, qu’ils soient au début, au milieu ou encore à la fin de leur et leurs cheminement, 2022, sa’ fa ced cheminement, Government.
While presenting the mini-budget, some associations, such as the Quebec Manufacturer and Exporters and the Council of Quebec Care (CPQ), among others, criticized the Legault government for not sufficiently expanding the pool of workers in certain areas of the private sector.
On Tuesday, CPQ welcomed the government’s openness to extending these measures to other sectors of activity. “There are many other areas that are just as important as the economy of Quebec and its regions,” said President and CEO Karl Blackburn.
The CPQ is reassuring to see the government spending so much effort, energy and money allotted to the labor shortage. It is taking great strides, focusing on the training and graduation of students as well as upgrading the skills of workers.
Carl Blackburn, President and CEO of CPQ
For its part, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business regrets that Quebec is not doing enough to help small businesses in other industries by targeting only six specific sectors. “Quebec is denying access to small businesses for tax credits to accommodate experienced and remote workers,” Vice President Francois Vincent said on Twitter.
Quebec also announced last week measures to encourage retirees, particularly in education, daycare and nursing, to return to their jobs, including temporary salary bonus, through March 31, 2023, which represents about $3,000 per year for a person with working income. $40,000.
At the moment, the Legault government does not intend to increase immigration thresholds to attract more employment. “We have reached the limit at the moment for Quebec’s integration capacity,” the prime minister said. Quebec should welcome 50,000 immigrants in 2022.
There were about 279,000 job openings in Quebec in September, according to Statistics Canada.