The Quebec government is injecting $120 million into the province’s construction industry to respond to the many infrastucture projects announced by Bill 66.
The move is aimed at helping the province with its economic recovery and assist the sector with retaining its dwindling workforce.
“The construction sector is doing well, but it must respond to the demand that the government is preparing to make to revive the economy,” said Treasury Board president Sonia LeBel at a press conference on Sunday.
She said the government said its aim is to help businesses grow and increase their productivity.
Quebec also wants to tackle the lack of workforce issue in construction. The province said it wants to add 11,000 workers to the industry per year.
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“What we’re seeing is that there are a lot of upcoming retirements in the next five years, and there is a drop in training enrolment — which had been observed before the pandemic,” said Quebec’s Labour Minister Jean Boulet.
Boulet added that it’s crucial that the industry has enough workers in order for Quebec to recover economically.
Officials said efforts will also be made to retain existing employees, especially under-represented groups including women, immigrants and First Nations people.
Over half — 54 per cent — of all women who enter the construction industry in Quebec leave the job within the first five years, according to Boulet.
–with files from The Canadian Press