At a time when school service centers (CSS) are in a race against time to be able to accommodate the thousands of students who have raised their hands to receive shortened and paid training in certain construction trades, stakeholders in the sector are raising a red flag. They say they fear that this “offensive” by the Legault government will cast a shadow over more comprehensive training leading to professional studies diplomas (DEP).
At the end of October, the Legault government announced a colossal investment of $300 million to allow CSS across the province to offer four to six months of training leading to obtaining certificates. of professional studies (AEP) for five professions particularly in demand in the construction sector, in particular that of carpenter-joiner and construction equipment driver.
Students participating in this construction “offensive”, as called by the government, will receive $750 per week to follow these training courses lasting twice as short as their equivalent leading to a DEP.
By putting forward these training courses, which several CSS will gradually offer between now and the end of January, the government wishes to train 4,000 to 5,000 students who will be able to work on construction sites as of next summer. they want it. However, more than 45,000 admission applications were submitted by candidates for these AEPs before the registration deadline of December 15.
“Demand has completely exploded,” notes Geneviève DeRoy, who is assistant director for vocational training at the Phares School Service Center in Rimouski.
DEPs suffer
Managers of professional training centers and union representatives are, however, concerned about the prospect that these AEPs, because of the financial incentives they offer and their short duration, will harm the viability of many training courses leading to DEPs.
The Phares School Service Center has also decided not to train future electricians this winter, since only 12 students had registered for this DEP, out of a total of 22 places. “There was no financial incentive [pour les élèves]so that played a role,” analyzes Mme DeRoy.
In this context, the president of the Quebec Provincial Council of Construction Trades (International), Michel Trépanier, notes that these accelerated training courses “are beginning to affect trades which did not experience problems in the past” by creating an excessive attraction for some construction trades. He therefore believes that the Legault government’s initiative is a “false good idea” which risks creating a shortage that did not exist before in certain professions.
The director of the Paul-Rousseau professional training center, Yves Langlois, compares these accelerated training courses in the construction sector to that implemented in May 2020 – and renewed since – to quickly train beneficiary attendants in the context of the health crisis. Since then, the popularity of traditional (and more comprehensive) training for this profession has collapsed, notes the man who directs the destiny of this Drummondville establishment.
“It’s a program that is slowly dying, and we are afraid that the same thing will happen in tinsmithing,” a construction trade that could suffer from AEPs deployed at the request of Quebec, he foresees.
The accelerated training to become a beneficiary attendant put in place during the pandemic has also raised concerns about the quality of care offered in the health network, which the Public Protector detailed in a report last September. However, the quality of construction could also suffer from the AEP that the government is now putting forward within this industry where qualified employees are already increasingly rare, fears Mr. Trépanier. “The impacts are extremely worrying in the long term. »
Adapt quickly
The arrival of these new accelerated training courses also creates numerous logistical challenges in several CSSs in the province, which had to rent new premises and quickly hire teachers, a process made more complex by the strikes which marked the fall of 2023.
“We are in an emergency on the ground,” confirms Geneviève DeRoy, whose professional training center is still waiting for some of the educational material necessary to offer these AEPs.
“There is a challenge of support at the teacher level. We will support them as best we can. We even committed resources to help them with the exercise,” notes Yves Langlois, who specifies that the construction industry employees recruited to offer these accelerated courses have never taught before. “We have to get them to become teachers overnight, so the challenge is quite significant,” continues the school director.
In Mauricie, the CSS du Chemin-du-Roy for its part had to postpone the start of classes for two of these accelerated training courses until February 19 due to a lack of space to accommodate the students and problems with “delivery of materials”, we indicate in the Duty. “However, despite the fact that the start of the training has been slightly postponed, the students will complete the training at the scheduled time,” assures the establishment.