The glaring lack of housing, mega-projects in the battery sector and the appetite of Hydro-Québec, which will need 35,000 construction workers in the coming years, are being felt on the ground where professional guys like Philippe Zannoni have no time to be idle.
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“From the first year, I worked overtime six days a week for two years. We’re going to get around $30 an hour,” shares with THE Newspaper Philippe Zannoni, 28 years old, fire protection mechanic, encountered yesterday near a construction site in Brossard, on the South Shore of Montreal.
“I install the sprinklers, the systems and the pumps,” says the man who is passionate about his profession.
Health and construction
In interview at NewspaperEmna Braham, general director of the Institut du Québec (IDQ), who today publishes her 2023 report on employment in Quebecconfirms that the construction industry will continue to need workers in the coming months.
“There are sectors that worry us: health and construction. There are a lot of projects on the drawing board in Quebec,” she analyzes.
Emna Braham, general director of the Institut du Québec (IDQ) notes in her annual report “that the real hourly wage, which is adjusted according to inflation, was higher in 2023 ($33.02) than before the health crisis ($31.87)” in Quebec.
Photo provided by the Institut du Québec
“We can talk about breaking down barriers between professions, but we have to go beyond that,” she continues.
Accelerated training
On Thursday, the Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet, tabled his bill to allow more flexibility in the trades. This provoked an immediate outcry from several unions, as reported The newspaper.
According to Emna Braham of the IDQ, accelerated construction training is welcome to attract new workers, but it will also be necessary to ensure that they stay.
“We will have to increase productivity, plan our sites well and ensure that health and [la] safety is there,” she believes.
As of January 26, 3,554 people were registered for short-term construction training, a number which reaches 4,388 registrations if we include the DEPs covered by theConstruction training offensive!according to data provided by the Ministry of Education.
4 key elements in employment
Nearly one in four workers is a civil servant
In Quebec, the public sector represents 24% of jobs, up 3% compared to 21% before the pandemic, underlines the IDQ. This gap amounts to 115,000 workers. To explain this movement, the IDQ underlines that sectors hit hard by COVID-19 (catering and retail) with salaries “often lower have relocated to areas that remained active during this period, such as health, education and construction.
Fewer jobs created last year
“If job creation was good over the last year, several indicators reveal that these new positions were generally of less good quality,” observes the IDQ. Part-time jobs jumped to 69,900 between December 2022 and December 2023, while full-time positions fell by 3,200. This is partly because workers in sectors like accommodation and restaurants returned at work after the pandemic.
More than 221,000 people have multiple jobs
Last year, more than 221,000 people worked multiple jobs to make ends meet. The IDQ notes that this number is similar to the pre-pandemic level. “The economic downturn has forced some workers to take part-time jobs even if they wanted to work full-time. As a result, the number of part-time workers for economic reasons has jumped over the past year.”
A construction bottleneck
“The construction sector could also face a real bottleneck in the years to come,” warns the IDQ. A slowdown in real estate may be felt, but there continues to be a severe shortage of housing and the labor shortage will continue to hurt, underlines the organization. Megaprojects in the battery sector and Hydro-Québec’s recruitment objectives will also add additional pressure.