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)

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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.

“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.

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.)

L’article The CFIB Helps Quebec’s SMEs est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

Mayor Stéphane Boyer attributes this operating surplus to a tight control of expenses and a real estate activity much more sustained than expected.

Those statistics are comparable to last year, where the record surpluses of $85.6 million generated in 2020 were mostly explained a special assistance of $42.3 million from Quebec in this first year of the pandemic.

The surplus of $38.2 million represents 4.1 per cent of an operating budget of $932 million in 2021.

Lower Expenses

Savings of $29 million were made with projected expenses, including $12 million saved on payroll. It ended at $376 million, including overtime.

The labour shortage situation has meant that the 127 new budgeted full-time equivalent positions were not all filled last year and that the staffing period, for those who’ve been, was stretched from three to six months.

“It didn’t, moreover, prevent us from doing an important PTI (triennial capital assets plan) and maintaining services despite everything,” Boyer said in an interview with the Courrier Laval.

Professional fees and technical services cost $7.8 million less than projected. In terms of fees, for example, $4.6 million of the $25 million budgeted remained on the table. These savings are mainly from the Communications Department ($2.4 million) and the Downtown Development Department ($1.9 million).

For what’s about the financial costs, they were $2.5 million lower than expected.

Revenues Going Up

The strong economic activity observed in 2021 has allowed the City to collect $20.5 million more than the estimated revenues.

Totaling $64.9 million, transfer duties generated $15.4 million more than the $49.5 million anticipated.

As for the permits issued last year, Laval collected $3.9 million from developers, and from owners and renovators, the highest registered according to the Director of Finance, Pierre Beaudet. Surprisingly, it’s an increase of 63 per cent compared to the $2.4 million estimated at the moment.

For the whole year, the total value of building and leasehold improvement permits is $1.4 billion.

Support Measures

However, the surpluses recorded aren’t made to the detriment to the detriment of the services given to citizens, says Boyer. The City even invested $18 million in many measures to help citizens affected by the pandemic, with the two-thirds in a tax freeze ($10.8) and the postponement of the deadlines for the payment of the tax account ($1 million). The business support program ($5.3 million) and the economic recovery plan ($0.9 million) are completing those investments.

A Shortfall

Still in 2021, Laval also had to deal with a shortfall of $14 million compared to expected revenues. Of this number, tax products were $4.8 million lower than expected, despite a record number of permits issued. This decline is the result of decisions given by the Tribunal administratif du Québec in the wake of challenges of value of the role. On this topic, let’s remember the out-of-court settlement under which Laval had to pay back $16.5 million in capital, interest and costs to the Rocket’s arena, the CH Group subsidiary and manager of Place Bell.

Also, investment income have generated $3.2 million less than projected, while fines brought in $18.6 instead of the budgeted $20.6 million.

Reassignment

Of the financial surplus, $5.9 million will go into the snow reserve, $13.1 million will go into the reserve for cash payment of upcoming fixed assets, and the remaining $16.2 million will be for unrestricted operating surplus.

In the upcoming years, the Boyer administration says he wants to invest heavily in community centres, streets, parks, works to reduce overflows and other major infrastructure projects. “Those sums will allow us to do it with a reduced impact on indebtedness or the tax burden,” the administration explains.

Record Investments

In 2021, capital expenditures totaled $248.9 million, which is $40 million more than in 2019, the pre-pandemic year.

Laval had reached a historic high with achievements of $240 million in 2020, a spending growth the city justifies by the fact its prioritizing sustainable development in its public infrastructure investments.

Boyer is delighted with a 65.2 per cent achievement rate of the PTI, especially in a year marked by a labour shortage and material supply difficulties.

As for the gap with the record year of 2020, where Laval had achieved nearly 75 per cent of its investment budget, he also explains it by a “more ambitious PTI from year to year”.

Let’s remember that under Vaillancourt’s administration, Laval was achieving only 45 per cent of the investments projected at the PTI.

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L’article Laval Concludes 2021 with a Surplus of $38.2 Million est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

Last winter, those manufacturers, members of the Prox-industriel community of interest, were gathering together to create a Web platform intended for job seekers.

“It’s a promising project for manufacturers working together in the search for concrete solutions to meet the challenges of labour shortages, and it’s a facilitating platform for job seekers as well,” said on its launch on February 2, Marie-Christine Piedboeuf, Prox-industriel’s president of the board of directors and business process expert at Pelican International.

Non-Specialized Jobs

An application submitted on the www.metiersindustrielslaval.ca website is automatically reported to the 17 partner companies.

However, before submitting it, the applicant is invited to first select at least one of the four proposed job categories (production, maintenance, warehouse and transport), which detail the types of non-specialized jobs available, and then tick the desired work shift(s).

100 CVs for a Hiring

This pilot project has emerged from discussions from the very active HR (human resources) self-help group within Prox-industrel, of which Rose-Marie Di Rosa, president of Comptoirs Lamnex, is a member.

“We’re having a lot, but a lot of trouble to recruit,” she explained in an interview with the Courrier Laval. “We’re doing business with agencies that aren’t necessarily able to bring us people.”

Already in 2019, a scarcity of labour weighed on the industry, as 1,450 vacancies had been registered within some 260 manufacturers in Laval’s region.

The pandemic has exacerbated the problem. “Today, in order to recruit someone, we need to receive 100 CVs (curriculum vitae),” Di Rosa said.

Promote Jobs

HR Vice-President of the Geloso Group, producer and distributor of alcoholic products which employs some 400 workers, Nancy Salloum can also testify on that difficulty in recruiting, having to deal with a 10 per cent vacancy rate.

For her, that initiative led by Prox-industriel serves above all to promote industrial jobs. “The main goal is to promote non-specialized jobs,” Salloum said, who is also part of the HR committee of that community of interest.

In fact, the digital platform is based on a promotional campaign shared on social networks, including Facebook, where workers testify to the passion they have for their job.

Shared Workforce

In order to help staff retention, Prox-industriel has developed an industrial workforce sharing project, underlines its President and CEO, Chantal Provost.

Fully funded by Services Québec, that collaborative measure ensures employees a continuous work throughout the year, and this, regardless of production lines that could be slowing down due to material supply delays, for example.

“It allows candidates to work for two companies if they want,” Provost said, while emphasizing the synergy generated by the network for the benefit of its members.

A spin-off of the Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Laval (CCIL) created in 2018, Prox-Industriel brings together 125 of the some 900 manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers scattered throughout Laval territory.

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L’article Manufacturers Create a Web Platform to Facilitate Hiring est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

Here’s a direct impact of the labour shortage, which has “the effect of a steamroller” on all economic activity sectors in the province, to better reflect the thoughts of Quebec’s vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), François Vincent.

Director of Laval économique, Lidia Divry pointed out in an interview with the Courrier Laval that the rate of vacant positions had practically doubled in two years, going from 3.7 to 6.5 per cent. In short, it means that of the 183,540 positions listed in Laval, only 171,575 were taken during the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the most recent Statistics Canada survey.

During that 24-month period, the number of vacancies increased by more than 80 per cent, with 5,370 new positions to fill, while the number of salaried employees was up by just 1945.

The ratio is three to one. The aging of the population is obviously no stranger to the situation, which is reflected across the province and the country.

To Compare

The rate of vacant positions recorded in Canada (5.3 per cent) and in Quebec (6 per cent) is lower that the one observed in Laval (6.5 per cent), reveals the latest quarterly survey published.

That being said, the number of vacancies in Canada has reached an all-time high of 915,545 in the fourth quarter of 2021. The same thing occurred in Quebec, where vacant positions were at 238,140.

Compared to the pre-pandemic period, two years before, the unmet workforce demand has increased by 80 per cent (+406,955 vacancies) in Canada, and by 86 per cent (+109,730 vacancies) in Quebec.

In the ranking of the 15 administrative regions of the province, Laval has the fourth highest rate of vacancies behind Outaouais (7.6 per cent), Capitale-Nationale (7.4 per cent), and Côte-Nord and Nord-du-Québec (both at 7 per cent). The only region whose rate is below the 5 per cent mark is Mauricie.

In the greater metropolitan area, Montreal’s region stands out with the lowest vacancy rate at 5.6 per cent, followed by Lanaudière (5.9 per cent), Laurentides (6.2 per cent) and Montérégie (6.3 per cent).

Heavy Trend

Steadily rising since the second quarter of 2018, the unmet labour demand is a structural problem, recalls the President and CEO of the Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Laval, Caroline De Guire. “We have until 2036,” she warns, while referring to the decline of labour pools linked to the aging of the population.

In fact, Canada’s working-age population has never been older, with more than one in five people approaching retirement. More precisely, people aged 55 to 64 make up for 21.8 per cent of people aged 15 to 64. Those statistics are from the 2021 Census, made public on April 27.

Moreover, the record wave of retirements among baby boomers, now aged between 57 and 76, is one of the factors behind the labour shortage, which continues to grow.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate reached a historic low last month in Quebec, with 3.9 per cent. On Île Jésus’s territory, the rate drops to 3.5 per cent.

Mobilization

“The labour shortage is a multi-faceted problem,” Divry said, whose team is hard at work in preparation for the Summit that Laval économique will hold on the issue on Thursday, September 29.

“Through that forum, we want to think about short-term solutions, but also want to give ourselves a medium-term vision,” she followed.

Employability, training, attraction/retention and economic development are the four main projects that will guide the programming.

The Commission des partenaires du marché du travail, all the sectoral manpower committees, educational institutions, company groups, and departments and agencies, including Services Québec and the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Immigration, Francization and Integration, are involved.

“We don’t have the choice of furniture,” Divry said, who salutes the mobilization of all socio-economic partners in the region.

Although the situation is worrying, the region has some key assets, including “a higher employment rate than Quebec’s and Canada’s one, a sustained population growth, a large pool of people with an immigrant background, in addition to a good youth representation,” the direction of Laval économique concludes, on a note of optimism.

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L’article Labour Shortage: 12,000 vacancies in Laval est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.