hawinigan, “dead town”. The word still haunts conversations today. Factory closures resulting in thousands of layoffs at the start of the millennium extinguished the Energy City. Since then, the former industrial power has regained its luster, turned the page on a boarded-up city center and downward glances. Quebec’s first hydroelectricity capital has regained its momentum thanks to the resourcefulness of its entrepreneurs… and the arrival of excellent immigration.
Nancy Déziel is from that generation of Shawinigan residents who saw her hometown slowly die, one relocation at a time. Today she is leading the train of her resurrection. “Shawi was born from electrochemistry. It will be reborn from electrochemistry,” she proudly states.
She directs the National Center for Electrochemistry and Environmental Technologies (CNETE) and designs the processes that will manufacture the batteries of tomorrow. She is very much at the cutting edge of technology in the “Energy Transition Valley”.
Shawi was born from electrochemistry. It will be reborn from electrochemistry.
She, and her 84 researchers and students, a quarter of whom come from abroad. “I don’t have a center without them,” says the trained scientist. Chemistry is not among Quebec’s strengths, she points out, and the inclusion of brains who do not think like us plays a big role in the growth of this sector of the future.
“Everyone has their own box. They arrive with different boxes,” boasts the one who also wears the hat of municipal councilor. “Yes, we sometimes have disagreements, but it’s okay to have disagreements. This allows us to ensure that we have addressed the problem. »
These latter did not arrive in Mauricie by chance. Nancy Déziel took a little tour of the world to understand what allowed companies elsewhere to attract these coveted talents. “In the end, they had nothing more than us. They just did it. » Job postings are enough today to attract all these beautiful people from Russia, Iran or France, while achieving gender parity without any quota.
Thanks to these physicists, chemists and other specialists, Shawinigan has reached a “critical mass of knowledge” that hits the mark. Concordia University announced at the start of the year that it would open its first branch outside of Montreal. Other centers of excellence and companies linked to battery chemistry are concentrated around it and now form a true “laboratory without walls”.
The CGI “Snowball”
A few years ago, Shawinigan competed for the top of the sad ranking of the oldest cities in Quebec. To reinvigorate the workforce, a few pioneers have cleared the almost virgin territory of entrepreneurship powered by foreign workers.
CGI moved to the city center in 2015, the start of a “snowball” for the local economy, relates the local director, Michel Leclerc. Today, around 200 IT professionals are based there, around 150 of whom come from abroad. How many different nationalities are boosting the city’s economy? “I don’t keep count anymore. »
Quebecers or new Quebecers, all go through the same hiring process, not without a few (happy) surprises, says the administrator. Take the example of a group of Haitians who obtained results of around 90% on entry tests. These statistics exceeded “everyone”. Surprising, we say, when we know the state of the country.
So much success raises eyebrows. “They found a way to game the system,” management assumes. To find out, managers re-interview candidates with “hyper-specific” questions. The result leaves no doubt. “Well no… They’re just really good!” »
Michel Leclerc, this former Torontonian versed in cosmopolitanism, draws a lesson from this. “When you get over your prejudices, you realize the wealth that these people can bring,” he says in the form of advice.
He speaks in terms of “returns” and he has nothing but good words for his new colleagues. “Sometimes we ask for tasks. They admit that they don’t know what to do, but tell us: “Give me two days, I’ll manage!” »
Getting these foreign professionals used to the pace of employment in Quebec appears to be less difficult than getting them used to the not always easy climate of Mauricie. A pamphlet is distributed to employees each fall to prepare them for the harsh winter weather. You should not fill your window washer tank with water, for example…
The CGI model has since strengthened other technology companies. The snowball reached local businesses. An Indian restaurant, a Lebanese one and an African grocery store have opened their doors, often by the spouse of a CGI employee. “The rest of the family is doing something else. This is what brings the city back to life,” summarizes Michel Leclerc.
Supercharged development
Shawinigan hit rock bottom in 2013 when the city’s last aluminum smelter closed for good. That same year, Mauricie competed with Gaspésie for last place among the regions in terms of economic performance, according to Frédéric Laurin, researcher and professor at UQTR.
We suffered from “lunch box culture,” he said in an interview. “It’s the worker who goes to work for the big multinational at a very good salary, with very good working conditions and vacations. Her job is more or less assured. There is no need to think, then there is no need to take risks. »
However, against all expectations, last year Greater Shawinigan surpassed the milestone of 50,000 inhabitants and 1,000 immigrants. The housing vacancy rate, established at around 10% in 2015, fell last year to 0.7%, one of the lowest in Quebec.
The second life of this city, once considered the most prosperous in Canada, was born by focusing on small businesses and openness to novelty, observes the researcher.
“The reluctance that people may have had towards immigration is starting to fade naturally. By need. […] There are issues of adaptation to Quebec culture and Quebec ways of doing things in businesses, but in general, things are going much better than people could imagine. This is the feedback I get from entrepreneurs. »
Mayor Michel Angers’ speech is along the same lines. “Immigration adds added value to our quality of life,” he said bluntly in an interview. “ […] Companies are desperate for employees. And people who come from immigration are a source of exceptional jobs. I think people know that now. »
Promises of installing hydrogen or battery factories promise a boost in an already very hot job market. The return of large industry to the region raises fears among economic observers, such as Frédéric Laurin. “These big factories will arrive like spaceships. They will siphon off all the workforce from SMEs and bring us back into a development model that we wanted to leave behind in 2013.” Will we witness a return to the future that will unravel the human and industrial fabric that Shawinigan has been trying to mesh since then?
This report is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.