The province is not out of the pandemic, far from it. Despite everything, we must now prepare for the future.
Posted at 4:15 p.m.
“Quebec is going through three transitions,” says Mia Homsy, CEO of the Institut du Québec, an economic think tank dedicated to socioeconomic progress. It was founded in 2014 by HEC Montréal and the Conference Board of Canada.
The first of these transitions is demographic, caused by the aging of the population. “We’re seeing it in Quebec, but we’re not the only one,” she said. All advanced economies are in the same situation. All countries will fight to attract the best talent. »
PHOTO OLIVIER PONTBRIAND, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Mia Homsy, CEO of the Institut du Québec
Mme Homsy will present his views in the context of a workshop with Luc Godbout on the place of small nations confronted with globalization.
The event is part of 13 virtual sessions on leadership and civic responsibility organized by the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) with the financial support of the Jarislowsky Foundation.
Speakers include former Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard, CGI founder Serge Godin, Gerard Bouchard, Quebec chief scientist Rémi Quirion and Statistics Canada’s Jean-Pierre Corbeil.
The event started on January 7 and should end on April 10 with a symposium.
The conference of M.me Homsy takes place Saturday morning at 9 a.m. She wanted to talk to The Press ahead of the event.
The second transition the province will face is related to digital acceleration, says Ms.me Homesy. “There will be more and more pressure for Quebec to remain competitive on a global scale and for the province to remain integrated into the value chains and for us to be able to continue to export”, mentions the one who holds a master’s degree in management. international from HEC Montreal.
The CEO of the Institut du Québec gives the example of online shopping, data management, artificial intelligence that allows the analysis of big data. “If our companies do not make this shift, they will lose their competitiveness. Even if the labor shortage creates a favorable context for automation, Quebec has increased its lag in private investment in machinery compared to the Americans during the pandemic,” she points out.
The last transition is ecological. “It includes the energy transition and the fight against climate change, which will have monumental impacts on our consumption and our production methods,” said the speaker. According to her, Quebec has assets to promote with its trade agreements, its skilled labor, its hydroelectricity and its carbon exchange.
“We will have to ask ourselves questions in terms of economic development,” she recommends. What will be our strategies to position ourselves through the three transitions I have talked about. »