Only a quarter of students paid $750 per week to follow accelerated training in construction are currently working on construction sites, we have learned The Journal.
Despite this record falling short of government expectations, Quebec still launched a second phase of this offensive, in which 1,828 new students have participated since the start of the school year. They are enrolled in short training courses in carpentry and joinery and benefit from the same financial support.
During the first phase which started in January, 3,854 students registered for one of the four professional studies certificates (AEP), the duration of which varied from four to six months.
Of these, 2,481 have graduated (64%), but only 1,017 have actually entered the construction industry so far, according to provisional data from mid-September.
“It’s extremely unfortunate. This program is a failure,” says Michel Trépanier, president of the Quebec Provincial Council of Construction Trades.
“It absolutely does not produce the results initially planned and hoped for. We should have taken the time to do things well,” adds Annie Primeau, vice-president of the Autonomous Education Federation.
The Legault government’s objective was for almost all of the people registered during this first phase to work on construction sites when they left school in June, the Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet, indicated on several occasions.
Generally speaking, 85 to 90% of construction students enter the industry, he said.
However, the results of accelerated training are much less rosy, since this proportion is currently more like 26%.
Paid $750 per week
Launched with great fanfare last fall, the Construction Training Offensive aimed to train between 4,000 and 5,000 additional people to work on construction sites, mainly thanks to these new accelerated training courses accompanied by an allowance of $750 per week.
Investing in professional training was a “laudable gesture”, but measures should have been put in place to ensure that graduates actually work in the industry after their training, says Michel Trépanier.
“If we pay people the equivalent of $25 an hour, we have to ensure that they complete their training and join the industry,” he says.
“Grumpy” students, often absent, were still paid $750 per week to follow accelerated construction training, reported The Journal early July.
“Interesting progress”
Asked to react to this first assessment, the Quebec Construction Association nevertheless considers that this is “an interesting step forward” in the fight against the shortage.
“We always hope to increase the conversion rate of registrations for training towards a construction profession,” we indicate in writing.
In the office of the Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet, it is said that this offensive “has caused significant enthusiasm” for the construction professions.
“We are still far from the final results: several cohorts are still underway,” we add in a written statement.
About 90 students enrolled in the first phase are expected to complete their accelerated training by the end of October, according to the Ministry of Education.
Students followed these training courses “for the wrong reasons”
Many students who enrolled in accelerated construction training courses were more attracted by the paycheck than by the prospect of actually working on construction sites.
This is what Chantale Beaucher, director of the Quebec Professional Training Observatory, observed, who is not at all surprised by the low proportion of graduates who have entered the construction industry.
“A lot of people signed up for a lot of reasons that had nothing to do with integrating into the industry,” she says. This is particularly the case in carpentry and joinery, where people wanted to seek paid training to renovate their basement or play on their woodlot.”
Quebec should have taken the time to consult the professional training network before launching this offensive which was poorly prepared, says this professor from the University of Sherbrooke. “We need to think better about programs,” she says.
No obligation
The financial support granted by Quebec to these students was not accompanied by an obligation to work on construction sites. The Legault government has already explained that it would have been difficult to implement such a measure, since these workers are not state employees.
During the second phase of this offensive, which started at the end of August in carpentry, candidates had to write a cover letter to justify their interest in working in the construction industry.
“The chance of a lifetime”
At the School of Trades and Occupations of the Construction Industry (EMOICQ), located in Quebec, the interim director, Francis Pouliot, however, gives a more positive assessment of this experience.
ÉMOICQ welcomed students present “for the right reasons”, who intended to go and work on the construction sites, he asserts.
The graduation rate for these accelerated courses is also higher in this school (77%) than the provincial average (56%).
For some, this opportunity represented “the chance of a lifetime,” since they could return to school while paying their mortgage and family expenses, says Mr. Pouliot.
Everything has been put in place so that these graduates will subsequently go to work on construction sites, adds the director. “Those who haven’t been there, I can’t answer for them. Jobs were available,” he says.
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