A territorial strategy

"To combat the shortage, we adopted a territorial strategy (as of 2014), called Horizon 2025," explains the mayor of the Magdalen Islands, Jonathan Lapierre. "It's a management tool that allows us to better anticipate the problem we're going to face in the future. Because of the demographic decline curves, we anticipated difficulties in the world of work.

"We want to present the place as a destination of choice to live and work there. We must focus on the quality and dynamism of the living environment, as well as business opportunities. We want to set the Islands apart from the rest of Quebec.

We encourage innovation among entrepreneurs and want to support business people who want to develop new businesses, including some that specialize in local products, such as a vineyard or the cheese factory Les biquettes à l'air . I'm also thinking of retail businesses, fish processing plants, the Réseau des artisans, and OSM Atlantique .

Emploi Québec estimates that 1,500 permanent jobs (according to a consultation conducted in 2019) will need to be filled over the next three years.

“Review their way of doing things”

“For a population of 12,775, that’s huge,” the mayor said. “We’re talking about jobs in several sought-after sectors. Restaurants and retail businesses have had to significantly change their hours of operation or service delivery. Of course, COVID-19 hasn’t helped either. I should point out that the local economy is very seasonal, but the lack of workers also affects permanent jobs. The shortage is multifactorial.”

"We can't solve everything. I think employers will have to rethink the way they do things on a permanent basis. Increasingly, processing plants are moving toward robotics, mechanization of processing lines. Other changes associated with service will have to be addressed, such as migrant workers."

According to Jonathan Lapierre, miracle solutions do not exist. That said, some tools are already in use. For example, a web portal ( etsilesiles.ca ) is made available to Magdalen Islands employers and workers everywhere so that relevant information can circulate. “This internet tool is in a way a trademark of the Magdalen Islands. It is a territorial marketing tool. The result is positive, but it will soon have to be quantified. […] At the beginning of the year, we also held a virtual job fair. It was a first attempt. Obviously, companies from the Islands participated in this event, which offered conferences and workshops. It also allowed for exclusive interviews between employers and people looking for work. I know that some participants continued their efforts afterwards. We also made marketing placements. For example, the TV series Le Grand Move , broadcast on Noovo. In short, it is the beginning of a process.”

Help for entrepreneurs

The federal government is currently conducting a public consultation on employment insurance reform. There is a united front among employers on this subject. Clearly, they need a big helping hand. "We are not asking Ottawa to abolish employment insurance benefits, since part of the economy of the Magdalen Islands depends on them. But we want reform." This statement is confirmed by Antonin Valiquette, general manager of the Chamber of Commerce of the Magdalen Islands. "The economy of the archipelago is based on seasonal industries. We must harmonize the criteria and conditions of employment insurance with the reality of the labour shortage by offering work incentives, without concentrating and shifting the lack of employees to our seasonal key sectors of fishing and tourism."

"It is not normal that there is approximately 13% unemployment while the economy of the Islands is going through a serious crisis of labour shortage..." said Mr. Valiquette. The Chamber of Commerce of the Islands also recommends that the government offer more incentives to retirees regarding a return to the labour market.

As for concrete tools, "the Chamber of Commerce of the Islands offers, among other things, HR (human resources) support services to entrepreneurs in order to optimize the retention of their staff. It also promotes access for its members to a group insurance program designed for SMEs, in order to make their jobs more attractive. The Chamber can also provide access to other programs or training on human capital management. Let us mention the company internship."

According to Antonin Valiquette, the Chamber also proposes the sharing of employees between companies or mechanization in certain companies.