Training launched by the Legault government to address construction labor shortages is generating unexpected enthusiasm across Quebec. However, some denounce a hasty and inadequate measure.
At Grand-Fjord's Professional Training Center (CFP) in Saguenay, success has been resounding.
The plumbing program there has been somewhat stagnant in recent years. Registrations for the Professional Studies Diploma (DEP) fell so sharply that the course was canceled in the last session.
“We had a solid team who simply asked to have students,” explains director Dominic Boily. We were constantly getting calls from employers saying, “Listen, do you have any workers? We need workers.”
Then, the day after the government's announcement in October, it started raining on the candidates. While Quebec wanted to train 4,000 to 5,000 construction workers, almost 47,000 applications for registration were submitted.
Almost 200 registrations were received for the Grand Fjord CFP alone. Of that number, 22 students were selected to participate in the accelerated plumbing training program, the Attestation of Professional Studies (AEP), while 22 others participated in the DEP program.
We started with 0 to 200 requests […] It was practically a revelation.
The first of them began classes the week of January 15th and welcomed us into their workshop.
I wanted to change careers
Some of the new plumber apprentices saw this training as an opportunity for reorientation.
“I have art in my hands,” says Ahmed Ben Othmane, 46, who has worked in restaurants for several years. He got up early and didn't know when he would come home. The motivation was no longer there.
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Ahmed Ben Othmane dreamed of changing careers, but until now he lacked the means to do so.
Photo: Radio-Canada
One evening I'm surfing social media and see a post [au sujet des formations accélérées], he says. I discussed it with my wife. I said, “I’m interested, I like manual work. Why don’t I commit myself to changing my life and improving my situation?”
A little further on, Sébastien Lampron is busy cutting sheet metal. By then he was a sergeant in the Canadian Armed Forces.
When you start in the armed forces, you start on the ground repairing aircraft. The higher you rank, the less you do. Then I missed it a lot, he explains.
When I finished my shift, I said to myself, “I have to find something else.” And that training came about, he adds.
These students receive a weekly stipend of $750 from Quebec to participate in the training, without which many of them would not be here.
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Marc-André Tremblay (center) and Sébastien Lampron (right) are both experiencing positive career changes.
Photo: Radio-Canada
When you have a house and everything that goes with it, dog, cat, children, car, all the equipment, it becomes difficult to complete two years of unpaid training, points out Marc-André Tremblay, previously an audiovisual technician at a secondary school.
“I didn’t like it at all,” he said, bursting into laughter.
Unnatural training?
Instead of the DEP program taking approximately 12 months, these students complete the AEP in four to six months.
“It distorts the initial training we had in the construction sector,” laments Éric Boisjoly, general director of FTQ-Construction, a union that represents around 90,000 workers. We have a government that, due to the labor shortage, has decided […] to undertake vocational training.
In his opinion, it would have been better to focus on switching between work and studies.
Quebec has instead decided to launch these quick, paid training courses to train staff in five trades where the need is particularly high: plumbers, carpenters, excavator operators, heavy equipment operators and refrigeration technicians.
Decisions from the Quebec Construction Commission stated that the profession of refrigeration engineer is so dangerous that in gas and electricity we should not even offer accelerated training in the profession, argues Éric Boisjoly. The government decided to move forward anyway.
However, several speakers emphasized that aspects of health and safety at work have not been sacrificed. This is the case of Danny Ratthé, teacher at the CFP du Grand-Fjord, who developed the plumbing training.
Mr. Legault requested an AEP for the construction of new buildings: hospitals, apartments, schools. That's why we wanted to respond to this need for workers. We removed the portion of the training dedicated to renovation […] and the manufacturing part, he says.
Trained plumbers can, for example, install ventilation ducts, metal wall cladding or a metal roof.
You will be ready to work safely, emphasizes Danny Ratthé.
Little time for preparation
Although she welcomes the success stories, such as the plumbing programs that have failed to attract students, the director of the Observatory of Professional Training of Quebec, Chantale Beaucher, is more critical of this offensive in the construction industry.
The crash courses surprised many people, she says. It was way too fast.
Between the Legault government's announcement and the scheduled start of classes, most institutions had barely two months to prepare. Some still do not have the space, teachers or materials to begin training.
The accelerated beneficiary care program was implemented in the context of a pandemic. It was urgent, there were public health issues. I understand that there is a labor shortage there, but that shortage will continue for many, many years. “We can take a few more months to think about what to do with it,” she said.
Chantale Beaucher does not hesitate to call the operation a parachute drop. She is concerned about the competence of the teachers hired at the last minute and particularly questions the effectiveness of the measure since students no longer have to work on construction sites after completing their training.
We destabilize the environment in a very short time and produce results that do not necessarily correspond to the investments.
The director of the Grand Fjord CFP also admits that the implementation of the plumbing program was rushed. It happened quickly, reveals Dominic Boily.
The approval process and ordering of equipment, among other things, were rushed.
We were lucky, he says, when he compares his situation with that of other vocational training centers.
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Accelerated training has “put plumbing back on the map,” “a little-known profession,” believes Dominic Boily, director of the CFP du Grand-Fjord in Saguenay.
Photo: Radio-Canada
The offenses remain interesting, but if the offense becomes permanent, things can become a little more problematic, says Dominic Boily. I think it's interesting because we saw that it really attracted people today, so much so that it hurts the regular route a little bit because people are like, “I'll wait, he'll launch an offensive, in the “there will be scholarships.”
He does not rule out the possibility of further initiatives of this kind emerging.