At the other end of the line, Stéphane Thériault’s wrath is perceptible: the general manager of the Quebec Council of Adapted Enterprises (CQEA) believes that the simple indexation of the envelope of the Subsidy Program for Adapted Enterprises (PSEA), whose budget is $122.3 million for 2023-2024 will not allow the creation of new jobs.
“Normally, companies have the possibility of opening temporary positions, especially when there is an opportunity for business development or a new contract. We usually have the flexibility to be able to hire,” explains Mr. Thériault.
“Unfortunately, in the version of the program presented to us for the next year, this possibility is wiped off the map. The program is frozen, the program is on hiatus for the next year. There is no possibility of employment for adapted companies, ”he insists.
This can be explained, among other things, by the increase in the minimum wage, which monopolizes a large part of the amounts allocated. In doing so, the opportunities to support companies in welcoming disabled workers are reduced, argues the director.
The PSEA pays the equivalent of the minimum wage for each candidate, as well as certain adaptations necessary for their integration into their workplace, such as the reorganization of an office or the hiring of a social worker or a specialized educator. . The employer, for his part, pays the difference between the minimum wage and that granted to the employee.
Uncapping
Thirty-seven member companies of the CQEA employ nearly 3,900 people with various disabilities every year.
Mr. Thériault wants the PSEA to be uncapped, in order to “allow all disabled people in Quebec to obtain a job, if they wish, and thus give everyone an equal chance of having access to a job here. , in Quebec “.
On the side of the office of the Minister of Employment, Kateri Champagne Jourdain, we claim to have the issue at heart, but we find it difficult to understand the reaction of Mr. Thériault.
“The inclusion of people who are far from the labor market is a priority for the minister. […] In all honesty, we do not understand the exit of the CQEA. For our government, it is very clear that we want to continue to support adapted companies and people with disabilities to integrate the labor market, “said the minister’s press attaché, Bénédicte Trottier, by email. The way.
The PSEA has enabled the creation of 225 suitable positions in four years, supports the Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity. Of the number, 46% would be vacant. “Despite everything, the department continues to make the funds available to support the employment integration of people with disabilities,” said a press release.
Mr. Thériault explains these vacancies by the fact that these sums are poorly distributed between the regions, because the real needs observed on the ground are not taken into account. This “has the perverse effect of limiting the number of vacancies”. Thus, in a region where the number of subsidized adapted jobs is lower than the number of candidates able to fill them, those who “will not be lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time” will be deprived of an opportunity to become an active citizen.
A citizen before a worker
Stephan Marcoux, founder and director of the social economy and socio-professional integration company Pleins Rayons, believes that the true integration of workers with disabilities does not necessarily pass through adapted companies.
“On the contrary, it’s still a form of segregation to place them in workplaces where they all gather together,” notes the entrepreneur from Cowansville. It would be important that we begin to have an honest discussion on the role and hiring of people with disabilities in Quebec. »
Pleins Rayons currently offers 18 social economy work platforms for young adults with Down syndrome or living with an intellectual disability.
In seven years of existence, the organization has managed to place 81 of its protégés in employment. The experience proved fruitful for 77 of them, who still hold their positions today.
All this without any government funding, which would allow Pleins Rayons to help even more future workers and to export its formula beyond the borders of Brome-Missisquoi, says Mr. Marcoux.
“True inclusion is offering these people real training based on their dreams and placing them in a job situation that is closer to their ambitions,” he says. Throughout the process, we accompany them, and we offer them support afterwards. And these people also become helpers instead of just being helped. »
This is how this pool of different candidates can find their place and really contribute to society. “What these people want is to live like the others, to feel useful,” says Mr. Marcoux. Can we consider them as citizens? Already, with a sense of citizenship, everything becomes possible. »
A report by the Auditor General tabled in November 2020 noted a lack of leadership “to ensure the coordination of the services necessary for the employment integration of young people with disabilities, which compromises the progress of some young people towards the job market”. The coordination of services between the various ministries involved was deemed “insufficient” and undermined the consistency of the services offered, some of which were “not clearly defined” and “rarely evaluated”.
Statistics compiled from the annual reports of adapted companies further indicated that “less than 4% of disabled people admitted to adapted companies left their jobs for standard employment each year from 2006 to 2019”.