That phenomenon, called “ghosting”, will indeed be on the rise.

37 per cent of respondents also reported that candidates didn’t show up for their interview, and/or abandoned the hiring process in the last 12 months.

“Ghosting is frustrating, and wastes time and energy they don’t have,” noted Jasmin Guénette, vice-president of national affairs at CFIB, in a press release. “Candidates and employees are not forced to accept or keep a job they don’t like, but should at least clearly communicate their intentions to the employer, instead of abandoning the process without warning.”

According to the latest CFIB Business Barometer, shortages of skilled or semi-skilled labour continue to limit growth for 53 per cent and 38 per cent of businesses, respectively.

Employment Insurance

The situation prompts the CFIB to ask the Government of Canada to take into account the impact that the changes to employment insurance, planned by the government itself, could have.

“Business owners, who have experienced ghosting, tell us some candidates prefer to continue collecting benefits for as long as possible,” added Guénette. “They’re applying for, or are accepting a job simply to meet the eligibility requirements.”

Guénette specifies that “the vast majority of employment insurance claimants probably intend to find work”, but that “the changes the government intends to make to the system should not discourage them from accepting, or start a job”.

The CFIB recommends that the government authority “not make employment insurance coverage mandatory for self-employed people, which would create significant costs for many SMEs”.

It also wants to see the federal government undertake a detailed analysis of the cost of its expanding plan, and lay out a plan to ensure that employment insurance remains viable without imposing additional costs on the employers. (N.P.)

translated by Alec Brideau

L’article 36% of SMEs are Facing Candidate “ghosting” est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

On Feb. 10, 2021, Villaggi had been notified by the Jean Coutu Group that the company would not renew neither the sublease agreement for the pharmacy premises, nor the franchise agreement.

If the franchisee wasn’t leaving the premises in time, which is by Oct. 31, 2022, the date set by Jean Coutu, a consequence was imposed: expulsion.

Even if, at the time, the owner wanted to leave the premises before the end of that month, and sell the pharmacy, we can conclude today that he had time to change his mind.

Heavy Legal Proceedings

In addition to the 2017 lawsuit, Villaggi also accused Jean Coutu in September 2021 of breaching the franchise agreement.

That contract describes the granting to Villaggi of an exclusive protected territory. That means no other Jean Coutu branch could establish itself in that location.

The territory was delimited by the René-Laennec Boulevard. However, another pharmacy is established there, but “on the other side of the street”.

Villaggi requested the disaffiliation of that other business, whose existence, according to him, contravened his contract, and which was in direct competition with him.

At the time, the judge called the request “inadmissible and abusive”, and therefore didn’t grant Villaggi’s request.

On Nov. 4, 2022, Villaggi appealed the decision in a final legal attempt to save his business, which has been active in Laval for more than 30 years.

The pharmacist pleaded a double argument, consisting of administrative objects related to the lease, but above all, the harm that the closure of the pharmacy would cause to patients.

The file was deemed incomplete, and the judgment, passed on Oct. 18, ordered the owner to respect the continued obligation to leave the premises.

About the Employees

Testifying under the anonymity, a former pharmacy employee testified that employees present on Nov. 8 were brutally escorted outside by ushers. No justification was received from Jean-Coutu that day.

Since then, the company has remained silent, and the human resources department refuses to answer questions from employees and provide them with a termination.

“The Jean Coutu Group should have taken care of the employees, and given psychological help if needed, especially because of the way we were treated,” said Andrea Villaggi, former pharmacy employee and daughter of the owner, on her Facebook account. “[They could have] relocated us elsewhere, apologized for the situation, but no, instead, no explanation was provided, only savage and unjustified treatment towards the employees.”

For its part, the Jean Coutu Group said, in an email to the Courrier Laval News, that it understands the difficult situation for Villaggi’s employees.

“Although we are not the employer, we continue to remain available to assist Villaggi if he wishes,” the Jean Coutu Group added. “We’re hoping, and doing everything to get the situation back to normal as soon as possible for patients and employees.”

translated by Alec Brideau

L’article Closure of Vimont’s Jean Coutu: Final Decision est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

A sheet stuck on the door awaited customers on Tuesday morning. The note, from the Ordre des pharmaciens du Québec, indicates that patient files of pharmacist Luigi Villaggi are now in the possession of pharmacists Émilie Larivière and Jean-Michel Dubeau.

Patients will now have go at the pharmacy located two kilometers further, on René-Laennec Boulevard.

Surprise

Although the files will be transferred to another pharmacy nearby, the decision will cause some problems for patients, especially for those who can’t drive to get there.

“We find it hard to understand the present situation,” said Dominique Palardy, a former customer of the pharmacy. “This is unheard of in the history of the company. At the same time, I greatly esteem Villaggi, who’s been there for me all my life as a patient. He’s an extraordinary pharmacist, and there for his customers.”

All customers met by Courrier Laval have a similar speech, as they don’t understand the current situation, but have only good, positive words for Villaggi.

Explanations

For its part, the Jean Coutu Group has confirmed the case has gone to court. Questions sent by the Courier Laval had yet to be answered when writing this piece.

The official reasons behind the closure therefore remain unknown for the moment. The pharmacy is no longer displayed on the company’s website, as if it had vanished overnight.

“After all those years of work, dedication and relentlessness, my father was kicked out of his pharmacy and all his employees were laid off,” said Andrea Villaggi, daughter of the pharmacist owner, through her Facebook profile. “In less than a few hours, more than 30 years of work were destroyed.”

Two security guards from the Maxi Security and Protection Agency have had the mandate to watch the front of the pharmacy since Thursday, Nov. 10. Apparently, there was a strike that day, which would justify the presence of increased surveillance.

Since the sudden closure of the business, the pharmacy taking over has been overwhelmed. In addition to having a smaller space, employees working there seem overwhelmed, drugs shelves are stripped, and the waiting lines are getting longer.

translated by Alec Brideau

L’article Sudden Closure of Vimont’s Jean Coutu est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

The Honorable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, presented Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan 2023–2025, which outlines immigration as a strategy aimed at helping companies find workers, and to attract qualified people in key sectors.

Last year, Canada welcomed more than 405,000 newcomers – the most ever in a single year. The Government continues that ambition, by setting itself 465,000 permanent residents in 2023, 485,000 in 2024, and 500,000 in 2025. The plan places greater emphasis on the settlement of newcomers in different regions of the country, including small towns and rural communities.

“Last year, we welcomed the largest number of newcomers in a single year in our history,” said Fraser. “This year’s plan will help businesses find the workers they need, set Canada on a path that supports our long-term success, and enable us to deliver on our key commitments to vulnerable people fleeing violence, war and persecution.”

That plan builds on ongoing work to strengthen the immigration system, and bring the benefits of immigration to communities across the country. That includes supporting the vitality of Francophone communities outside of Quebec. (J.L-B\IJL)

translated by Alec Brideau

L’article An Immigration Plan to Help Grow the Economy est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

The closure, scheduled for December 30, can be explained by persistent labour shortage problems.

Claude Brière, Vice President Sales and Development of the business, says Whyte’s has difficulty with the labour shortage since more than two years.

“For the past few years, we’ve been working extremely hard, deploying many resources, some of which are solely dedicated to hiring,” Brière said. “However, we’re unable to fill our vacancies.”

After some time, the business came to the decision to close the factory.

Over the next weeks, the company will move its production and equipment to other factory in Quebec (Saint-Louis de Richelieu), and Ontario (Wallaceburg). However, the company’s headquarters will remain in Quebec, being relocated to the Sainte-Thérèse distribution centre.

The factory has approximately 75 employees. Although the news probably didn’t surprise the majority, Brière specifies that employees were met individually, being offered a transfer to the Saint-Louis de Richelieu factory. He thinks around fifteen of them could accept the transfer.

Brière adds that Whyte’s is sad for its employees.

“We are a family business, and very close to our employees,” he concluded. “Making such decisions, it’s obvious that we find it very sad for them. We’ll wish our employees the best of luck for the future, and will do everything in our power to help them.”

L’article Whyte’s: A Difficult Decision est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

Over the next weeks, the company will move its production and equipment to other factory in Quebec (Saint-Louis de Richelieu), and Ontario (Wallaceburg). However, the company’s headquarters will remain in Quebec, being relocated to the Sainte-Thérèse distribution centre.

As for the employees of Sainte-Rose, Whyte’s is looking to relocate as many of them to its other establishments in Quebec.

In its press release, Whyte’s specifies it will continue to serve its North American foodservice customers, as well as Canadian consumers, by producing high-quality pickled products.

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L’article Whyte’s Closes its Factory in Sainte-Rose est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

That brings Laval’s total to 76,570 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic.

Unfortunately, 1,160 Laval citizens died from it, a number that hasn’t changed over the past week.

As for vaccination, 89.7 per cent of Laval’s population received at least one dose of vaccine. Of them, 87 per cent have received their second dose, and 50.4 per cent got a first booster dose. That data is up to 18 per cent when it comes to the second booster dose. In total, it represents 1,028,476 doses given in the region since the start of vaccinations.

It’s the ninth highest provincial total behind Montreal (5,091,688), the Montérégie (3,402,990), the Capitale-Nationale (1,919,725), the Laurentides (1,485,640), the Mauricie and the Centre-du-Québec (1,271,418), Lanaudière (1,234,001), the Estrie (1,217,285) and Chaudière-Appalaches (1,066,413).

The CISSS also specified that 79 employees of its network (increase of 17) were absent from work due to the virus.

To clarify, the data used for confirmed cases of COVID-19 are now coming from the laboratory database, rather than from the Public Health Trajectories (TSP) information system as before.

This new method no longer makes it possible to present data from Laval’s sectors, since the information on the place of residence is often incorrectly entered, or missing.

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L’article COVID-19: Slowdown in New Confirmed Cases in Laval est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

Initially established at Marché 440, along Highway Jean-Noël-Lavoie, it was now located a few steps from the Centropolis at 2888, du Cosmodôme Avenue, in Chomedey.

As reported by TVA Nouvelles, the labor shortage would be the main cause of the place’s closure. Fruiterie 440 employees will have the possibility to request a transfer to another branch of the chain.

Fruiterie 440 could reduce its inventory between now and Monday, since employees are already packing products to transfer them to other branches.

More details to come.

translated by Alec Brideau

L’article Fruiterie 440 Closes its Doors in Laval est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

“We knew the labour shortage had a very negative impact on leaders of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),” said by press release François Vincent, vice-president for Quebec at the CFIB. “They have to work more hours, and their employees as well. They’re forced to refuse contracts and business opportunities.”

Vincent adds that those SMEs could have benefited from these sums to recover, grow and revitalize their regions. For him, the labour shortage issue is very bad news for SME leaders.

CFIB’s assessment is based on data from a survey conducted last March. The results relating to the losses suffered by SMEs were calculated using the average total income of a Quebec SME, published by Statistics Canada for the year 2020, by sector of activity. Let’s note that the analysis only takes into account SMEs with revenues between $30,000 and $5 million, in order to have a conservative assessment.

All Sectors

In a report published last April, the CFIB revealed how the labour shortage was affecting all industries, and leading to an explosion of job vacancies, thus putting a lot of pressure on SMEs.

Today’s research note also highlights the economic impacts by activity sector.

The construction and professional and administrative services sectors are registering losses of more than $2 billion. SMEs in the lodging/food and retail sectors are experiencing losses of nearly a billion. In the wholesale trade and transportation sectors, these losses total $1.2 billion.

Measures

The lack of employees is cited by 86 per cent of small business owners in Quebec as the most difficult issue to overcome in 2022, just behind the increase in costs, mentioned by 87 per cent of them.

“The Government of Quebec has adopted several measures to support companies seeking employees, and has just made changes so that all SMEs have access to tax credits to attract workers,” explained Vincent in the press release. “That said, more actions are possible and necessary to help those businesses, especially in terms of taxation, where Quebec is the country’s champion.” (A.B.)

L’article Nearly $11 Billion Lost Due to Labour Shortage est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

In a recent meeting, the municipal council adopted two resolutions in the hope of concretizing the project to set up a Cité du cinema on the land located in the south-west axis of avenue Marcel-Villeneuve and rue de l’Harmonie, in Saint-François.

Zoning and Promise to Purchase

After starting the rezoning change process in order to accommodate “a world-class cinema complex”, the elected officials present at the meeting approved by 11 votes to two the sale of two municipal lands to promoter and Laval resident Michel Trudel, for the sum of 32.1 million dollars.

In fact, the promise of purchase is conditional on obtaining a zoning change. Right now, 60 per cent of the 2.2 million square feet aimed by this request for modification of authorized uses are zoned residential. The remaining 40 per cent is already destined for industrial development.

Divergences

Resolutions were not unanimous at the municipal council table, and within municipal services.

If the Mouvement lavallois had the support of Action Laval, whose municipal councillor Isabelle Piché is the elected representative of Saint-François, it couldn’t count on the support of the two councillors from the second opposition group.

Recognizing this project as “fantastic from an economic point of view”, the interim leader of Parti Laval, Claude Larochelle, said he didn’t have all the necessary information to be able to vote. His request to postpone some points to a future session was defeated. In general, Larochelle wanted to make sure this was “the best site” available in Laval.

Opportunity

Mayor of Laval Stéphane Boyer mostly described it as an “opportunity” to be seized.

“A serious and credible promoter is proposing an interesting project […] that would develop a whole new industry in Laval,” Boyer said. “It would have a low environmental impact, and enormous economic consequences, while creating a lot of jobs in the eastern sector of Laval.”

The man behind this $200 million investment project is Trudel, co-founder of MELS studios, which he directed for more than three decades in Montreal. Working in the film industry for 40 years, we owe him the filming of several Hollywood mega-productions in the metropolitan area.

In terms of jobs, Boyer mentioned “200 to 500 employees”, as well as a training centre that would accommodate “up to 300 students”. In addition to boosting the local economy, that clientele would help accelerate the development of eastern Laval, including public transport’s services.

“It’s the only option in Laval” Boyer insisted when discussing the location. “If it’s not there, the project won’t be realized.”

Cinematographic Complex

The Cité du Cinéma would be built on an area equivalent to some 30 soccer fields.

In addition to the seven shooting studios housed in the cinematographic complex, there would be production offices, a warehouse for set decorations, administrative offices, a film school, as well as costume making, set production and mechanical transformation-animation workshops.

To put things into perspective, these facilities would double the total area currently available with the MELS 2 and MELS 3 studios in the Technoparc de Montréal.

The Cité du cinema that Trudel plans to build in Laval would increase filming capacity in Quebec by 40 to 50 per cent, the promoter said.

translated by Alec Brideau

L’article Laval Says Yes to the Establishment of a Cité du Cinéma est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.