As companies look for all kinds of ways to meet their various needs for qualified professionals, some are turning to universities. They are also working on several fronts to try to meet needs, whether by supervising internships or adapting course content.
The severity of the teacher shortage was stark in Quebec’s face last summer. The Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, even launched the idea that the four-year baccalaureate be reduced to three and that the last year be one of paid internship in the classroom to provide labor. However, at Laval University, since 2014, students in the last session of the baccalaureate in teaching have completed an internship, so they are hired by a school service center and are assigned a class.
“It started in regions where the shortage was greater, for example in James Bay, Gaspésie and the Magdalen Islands: we were often called because one of our students was from the area and we offered him a paid full-time job internship for his final year in order to fill a need, and we looked to see if the person had everything it took to succeed and if so, we gave our authorization and supervised the internship,” explains Christine Hamel, vice-dean of studies at the Faculty of Educational Sciences at Laval University.
Since then, school service centers from more and more regions have started to make requests to Laval University, including those in Montreal. For the year 2023-2024, 70 students in the process of qualifying at Laval University have already accepted an employment internship in Quebec, which represents 22% of people in final internship.
Often, the school wants to keep the student intern employed throughout the school year, so we started offering the courses for the last session of the bachelor’s degree in evening teaching and online so that he can do both.
Christine Hamel, vice-dean of studies at the faculty of education sciences at Laval University
More and more internships offered by companies
The University of Sherbrooke, for its part, relies heavily on cooperative programs, therefore alternating studies and internships in the workplace. It actually offers 48 in several fields, the latest being the bachelor’s degree in quantum sciences, launched last year.
“Students apply in their internship what they learned at school, then they must reflect in their internship report on the skills they developed in the workplace and then they apply these skills, particularly interpersonal skills, in their studies,” explains Christine Hudon, vice-rector of studies at the University of Sherbrooke.
Other programs, without being cooperative, offer paid internships in the workplace. She notes that in recent years, employers have offered a lot of internships to students.
Companies need workers and internships are a way to meet their needs in the short term, but also in the long term because after their studies, many students will work in one of the companies where they have is doing an internship.
Christine Hudon, vice-rector of studies at the University of Sherbrooke
The university also uses feedback from students and workplaces to review its programs. “We are improving the content so that it better responds to the realities of the labor market,” she adds.
Accelerate access to the profession
At the University of Montreal, many efforts are also being made to better meet the needs of the communities. For example, while the shortage of nurses is still hitting, we have just set up an online microprogram which allows people who have already completed university studies to have 30 credits recognized.
“They will then be able to enter the baccalaureate in nursing sciences and complete it in two years instead of three,” explains Pascale Lefrançois, vice-rector of student affairs and studies at the University of Montreal.
In addition, faced with the shortage of veterinarians, particularly acute in the region, the University of Montreal will offer its undergraduate doctorate in veterinary medicine at the University of Quebec in Rimouski next year. It will thus train 25 more veterinarians per year.
The University of Montreal has also just launched a program for veterinarians trained abroad to avoid having to repeat their entire training.
“We evaluate their level of skills and if they have the required level, they will only complete a year and a half of training to become veterinarians in Quebec,” indicates Pascale Lefrançois. We have more and more programs like this, and it is important to accelerate the integration of professionals trained abroad. »