The labour shortage is hitting hard, affecting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of all sectors and harming Quebec’s economy.
More than 60 per cent of SMEs owners are working more hours than they should in order to make up for the lack of staff, while almost 50 per cent indicate that their employees have done the same.
To support Quebec entrepreneurs, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) meets with them to inform them about the programs and measures available to them. With the arrival of the provincial elections, CFIB is unveiling its new labour shortage awareness tool.
“It’s important to share the expectations of SMEs to political decision-makers, but also to act directly with our members,” said François Vincent, vice-president for Quebec at the CFIB, in a press release. That’s what we’ve always done and what we’ll continue to do. During the pandemic, the CFIB was there to support entrepreneurs without benchmarks who were going to hit a wall. Today, we intend to help SMEs facing a lack of employees. We’ll put energy into informing entrepreneurs across Quebec. By the end of the year, we’ll be meeting 40,000 leaders of Quebec SMEs and we’re aiming for 100,000 next year.”
The first consequence of the labour shortage for entrepreneurs is usually that they have to work more hours. Therefore, they have very little time, if any, to find out about the programs and measures in place.
To improve the awareness and use of business programs, the CFIB is asking political parties to commit to creating a Minister of SMEs and Regulatory Relief. Creating a continuum in government’s action for businesses would help to improve communication and the use of services. Finally, more needs to be done in terms of regulatory relief to help entrepreneurs save time. (A.B.)
