Faced with the housing crisis, the CISSS des Îles de la Madeleine is considering adding a construction helmet to its caregiver uniform. The health and social services center plans to build the accommodation it needs to accommodate its workforce.
The diagnosis is implacable: the vacancy rate is close to 0% in the Magdalen Islands, which makes it almost impossible to recruit workers from the mainland. The CISSS des Îles is also affected by this reality: as Madelinots age and require more care, the local labor pool is shrinking and there is a lack of housing to attract people from outside.
“There are people ready to come and live a great adventure on the Islands,” says the CEO of the CISSS, Sophie Doucet. Unfortunately, they sometimes have to move back because they are unable to find a home. »
To remedy this problem, the CISSS could get into real estate, she explains. “We tested the idea with the Ministry of Health. He encouraged us to deepen our reflection. »
The CISSS is currently assessing its needs. “It’s still very embryonic and there are still plenty of options on the table. What form could it take? Row houses? An apartment building? A park of tiny houses? We don’t know yet,” says the CEO.
The CISSS des Îles completed the purchase this spring of a hotel-motel located in front of the hospital. This will accommodate offices, but also around thirty rooms intended to house temporary workers. They will be added to the few houses that the health and services center must already rent to provide a roof for its agency staff.
It is necessity more than desire that drives the CISSS madelinot to consider the real estate adventure. In an ideal world, says Mr.me Doucet, a developer would agree to collaborate with the health center to save it the burden of building and managing such a park.
The pressure of tourism
The Islands experience a particular reality induced by the high tourist influx in the summer period. Many Madelinots rent their homes at high prices to tourists. Leases, for workers who wish to settle there, therefore often end as soon as the fine weather arrives.
This is what Sophie Doucet herself experienced when she took office last year. “My husband and I decided to go for broke by selling everything we had on the continent,” she explains. We were hot: it’s crazy, the real estate market here. Myself, I was afraid of not being able to find accommodation. »
However, it is intended to be reassuring: the CISSS des Îles will support applicants in their search for housing.
About 60 positions currently remain to be filled at the CISSS, which must call on the services of 39 workers from private agencies. It spends $1.3 million each year to transport and house them.
The Madelinot health and social services center hopes to present a more precise vision of its real estate needs within a year. In the meantime, Sophie Doucet and the CISSS are preparing for the role they may soon play. “Real estate is not our job, notes the CEO. It’s out of the ordinary for us! »