Those who follow the accelerated construction training courses paid $750 per week will have no obligation to then go to work on construction sites.
Like beneficiary attendants during the pandemic, workers now benefit from a paid fast track to alleviate the labor shortage.
An accelerated course of four to six months paid $750 per week is offered starting in January for five construction trades. Quebec also offers graduation scholarships to new apprentice workers in programs leading to a professional studies diploma (DEP) in the five targeted fields. Interested parties had until December 15 to register. The Legault government’s offensive to recruit between 4,000 and 5,000 workers by the summer was successful, with nearly 47,000 applications for admission submitted.
But unlike beneficiary attendants, who had to commit to working for at least one year in a CHSLD at the risk of having to repay the scholarship, people who graduate from accelerated construction training have no obligation.
A situation that makes the Provincial Construction Trades Council (International) fear the worst.
“If I have people today who are on minimum wage or who are working, who have never thought about the construction industry and who tell themselves that for four or five months they will see their pay increase to 25 $ per hour without obligation, does that guarantee me that the investment [de fonds publics] worth it? I don’t see it,” underlines the general director of the union center, Patrick Bérubé.
The newspaper revealed last fall that it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of the Legault government’s rapid training programs, which have so far cost the public treasury more than $294 million.
Electricity students “deserted”
The Managing Director of International also fears that short paid training courses will siphon off other, more comprehensive courses making it possible to obtain a real professional studies diploma and sufficiently qualified workers. While the shortage is glaring, Mr. Bérubé maintains that electricians who had practically completed their DEP have “deserted” to go to paid accelerated training in other trades.
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“Are we attracting new people, or are we just displacing people for financial gain?” he asks himself.
It was not possible on Friday to find out from the Ministry of Education what proportion of people admitted to paid courses were already studying in a program under construction. Data on the total number of people selected for rapid training and the impact of the shortage of teachers on course offerings are also awaited.
Not state employees
In the office of the Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet, it is clarified that the government cannot subject construction workers to the same requirements as beneficiary attendants, because they are not state employees.
“However, the demand for labor is so strong in the construction sector that there are partnerships between certain training centers and companies. It is usual for students, at the end of the program, to already be hired or at least approached by a company,” argued its press officer, Louis-Julien Dufresne.
He adds that “industry stakeholders” have reported that a requirement to work would not necessarily satisfy the objective of short courses and could even be counterproductive.
Note that Quebec plans to extend $300 million for this construction training offensive.
Summary of applications for admission to paid accelerated training
Study program Attestation of professional studies (AEP)
- AEP – Carpentry-joinery: 16,791
- AEP – Driving construction machinery: 17,327
- AEP – Tinsmith: 3431
- AEP – Refrigeration: 9432
Total: 46,981
Study program Professional studies diploma (DEP)
- DEP – Carpentry-joinery: 1258 N/A
- DEP – Driving construction machinery: 375
- DEP – Tinsmith: 174
- DEP – Refrigeration: 242
- DEP – Electricity: 1735
- DEP – Plumbing and heating: 549
Total: 4333
Source: Ministry of Education