(Quebec) To tackle the labor shortage, Quebec will offer a new allowance of $ 475 per week to unemployed workers who agree to return to school in a targeted field. The Legault government on Tuesday launched “Operation labor” which is accompanied by 3.9 billion in investments.
“We must give a big blow”, launched Tuesday the Prime Minister François Legault during a press conference in the company of the Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Solidarity, Jean Boulet, and the Minister of Higher education, Danielle McCann. Québec has set itself the goal of re-qualifying and attracting nearly 170,000 workers in six key locations: health and social services, education, daycare, engineering, information technology and construction.
“You have to fill two kinds of jobs; those that I would call essential and those strategic, ”said Mr. Legault. The new “Operation workforce” is accompanied by 3.9 billion investments over five years, including 2.9 billion in additional credits, to tackle the shortage in the targeted sectors. This operation essentially follows the measures announced in the mini-budget last week.
Quebec announced Tuesday the creation of a new allowance of $ 475 per week “for people who do not have a job” and who “agree to go to study” in the six targeted areas. Added to this is a generous scholarship program announced last week. At the end of their training, students will have received up to $ 9,000 at college, and $ 15,000 to $ 20,000 at university, depending on whether the program is three or four years. It is in addition to student financial assistance.
Eligible professions are those related to the targeted sectors, such as analysts, programmers, engineers and engineering technologists, clinical and nursing assistants, respiratory therapists, psychologists, social workers, preschool, elementary and school teachers. secondary school as well as special education technicians and childcare educators. A list of eligible programs will be published shortly, it is said.
All Quebec students enrolled full-time in the priority areas determined will also be eligible, whether they are at the beginning, in the middle or at the end of their path, and this, from the fall session of 2022, indicated the government.
During the presentation of the mini-budget, certain associations, such as Manufacturiers et Exportateurs du Québec and the Conseil du patronat du Québec, had, among other things, criticized the Legault government for not having sufficiently broadened the pool of workers for certain areas of the private sector. .
“Employers would have liked to see measures that can help them immediately, such as the integration of people far from the labor market and the retention of experienced workers, a workforce that is nevertheless available and undervalued”, had deplored the president, Karl Blackburn.
Quebec had also announced measures to encourage retirees, particularly in education, daycare and nursing, to return to their jobs, including a temporary salary bonus, until March 31, 2023, which represents approximately $ 3,000. per year for a person whose work income is $ 40,000. There were some 279,000 vacant positions in Quebec in September, according to Statistics Canada.