Labor shortage obliges, Attraction, a company that manufactures cotton sweaters in ethical fibers and t-shirts in its two factories in the village of Lac-Drolet, in Estrie, just on the border of Beauce , has just opened a new clothing workshop in Montreal in the heart of the Chabanel district to have access to a pool of specialized labor that it can no longer find in the regions.
Posted at 6:30 a.m.
We are really experiencing a phenomenon that is the opposite of the one we have long observed in Quebec, when over the past two centuries, the rural exodus has depopulated our regions, which workers left en masse in the hope of finding greater stability in jobs in big cities.
However, 30 or 40 years ago, several textile companies were still active in different regions to meet the needs of large companies located in Montreal, such as Dominion Textile, which had factories in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Sherbrooke, Magog, Drummondville, Victoriaville or Montmorency.
Several smaller producers also continued their activities throughout Quebec, particularly in Beauce and Estrie, where the Attraction company began making promotional sweaters and souvenirs from 1980, in the village of 1,200 inhabitants of Lac- Funny.
The company, which was bought by Julia Gagnon, daughter of the co-founder of Attraction, and her husband, Sébastien Jacques, employs 110 people in Lac-Drolet and, as we can imagine, is the main employer in the small municipality. .
“Demand is up sharply and we needed to increase our production capacity, but we were unable to find labor in the regions. There are fewer seamstresses than before and our employees are aging. So we decided to open a factory in Montreal to take advantage of the availability of workers who live all around,” Sébastien Jacques explains to me in the new clothing workshop in the Chabanel district.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
The Attraction factories in Lac-Drolet can no longer find skilled seamstresses to take over.
The two owners of Attraction have sought to acquire manufacturing workshops in the vicinity of Lac-Drolet, but the problem remains, the existing factories can no longer find specialized personnel, professional seamstresses, to ensure the raises.
The pandemic shift
Before the outbreak of the pandemic, Attraction made 50% of its turnover by importing t-shirts from Asia to transform them into tourist objects for souvenir shops, t-shirts in the colors of Banff, Whistler, Quebec or Gaspé.
This activity was halved with the collapse of tourism in the summer of 2020, but is slowly regaining strength. On the other hand, the manufacture of cotton sweaters with ethical fibers, organic cotton and recycled polyester, is recording sustained growth that is not slowing down.
“We created the Ethica division, which only manufactures promotional sweaters with ethical fibers, which has the wind in its sails. With the opening of our new workshop in the Chabanel district, we plan to double production this year,” says Sébastien Jacques.
The decision to invest in Montreal was made last summer and Attraction moved into its new premises in November, where some thirty workstations have been installed on two production lines that began operations last December.
Already, Attraction plans to double the size of the workshop and hire 30 additional seamstresses as of April to meet the sustained demand.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Sébastien Jacques, co-owner of Attraction
We couldn’t have done that at home or in Beauce. Here there is an ecosystem with many newcomers who want to work close to home. We could not have brought them to Lac-Drolet. Their families, their friends, their community are here, in Montreal, so we had to adjust.
Sébastien Jacques, co-owner of Attraction
All hiring was done by word of mouth. A Montreal workshop manager, Kamel Daoud, has been appointed to oversee production and Philippe Gagnon, Attraction plant manager, has come to install the 30 workstations and will work on the upcoming expansion of factory.
“The pandemic was a shock, but we have come out of it stronger. The demand for Ethica’s union-made jerseys continues to grow. Before the pandemic, we had a delivery time of ten days for our orders and it went to six weeks. We have to go back to ten days and build up stocks so as not to lose customers,” agrees Sébastien Jacques.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
New Attraction factory in the heart of the Chabanel district
The fact remains that it is quite unusual for regional businesses to come and invest in Montreal. The reverse was more often the norm.
We saw it last week, with the most recent data from the Institut de la statistique du Québec: it is Montreal’s turn to suffer from the exodus of its population to the regions, while the city recorded a 2.5% drop in its residents.
And it is thanks to the investments of a regional company like Attraction that Montreal will be able to retain its residents who work there.