To ensure the recruited workers can be accommodated, Chantier Naval Forillon has become owner and tenant of five houses in Gaspé, a municipality where the housing vacancy rate is 0%.
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“It’s a housing issue. Because of this, we lost candidates. Most of the time we manage to find places, but that gives us the responsibility to find ourselves,” explains the great boss Jean-David Samuel.
At the end of 2022, 65% of the jobs available in Quebec, or 160,000 jobs, were advertised outside of the Montreal and Laval regions. This is a 4% higher share than in 2019.
However, it is a major challenge to fill these positions and attract young people to the regions when many municipalities have a vacancy rate of less than 1%.
This applies to the cities of Saguenay, Gatineau, Trois-Rivières and Sherbrooke, but also to smaller communities such as Rimouski, Drummondville, Saint-Georges and Rivière-du-Loup, among others. The situation is also worsening in Quebec, with a vacancy rate of 1.5% last October.
Jean-David Samuel currently has more than seven vacancies, almost 10% of his workforce. He is expecting a Moroccan and a Belgian family soon. The company has considered building homes for its employees, but it would have to rent them for at least $1,400 a month to make a profit because the materials are expensive. That’s more than double the average rent in Gaspé.
“For our employees, $30 an hour is a lot and we’re not used to paying these prices here,” says the entrepreneur. It’s a big problem that represents the whole vitality and economic development of the region. »
Use your network to find
In Baie-Saint-Paul, the owner of the To Each His Bread bakery faces the same difficulties in accommodating his workers, half of whom are foreign.
“We bought an apartment building last summer. I had six workers arriving and nowhere to put them. It was the only solution! says Jean-Christophe Lamontagne.
“Entrepreneurs are used to finding solutions to problems. It’s another component… It’s not our goal to house people, but we need to do it now to have staff. »
Mr Lamontagne is also in close contact with other property owners in the community to ensure spaces are available. When an employee leaves because they are not adapting well to the region, Mr. Lamontagne negotiates to have accommodation reserved for the replacement.
Public sector employers do not have the opportunity to become property managers and must seek other support. This is the case of the CISSS du Bas-Saint-Laurent, which advertised 800 vacancies.
“When recruiting, we refer candidates to organizations that can help them find housing. We try to support them as much as possible,” explains their spokesman Gilles Turmel.
The wind power boom causes demand in Gaspé to explode
Even before the pandemic, Gaspé lacked housing to cope with population growth and the phenomenon will intensify in 2023.
Despite the construction of 220 residential units in two years in the small town of 15,000, there is nothing for rent.
“A Nice Trouble”
“We are dealing with a big problem,” said Mayor Daniel Côté. We had experienced a demographic decline since the 1980’s and now the growth is greater than what we can offer. »
Photo Archive, Stevens Leblanc
Daniel Côté, Mayor of Gaspé.
Gaspé’s economy is stimulated by the wind power sector. The manufacturer LM Wind Power has 500 employees and could double its workforce in the coming years.
“I invite property developers to take an interest in us! Mayor Daniel Côté is pleased that this is also spreading beyond his region.
There are many incentives to build. Since December 2019, Gaspé has enjoyed exceptional status: Quebec passed a private law allowing the city to grant a five-year tax holiday to those who build rental housing.
The Table des préfets de la Gaspésie offers $10,000 per rental unit built, for a maximum of $200,000 per project. These measures counterbalance the reality of a remote region where a housing unit would cost up to $25,000 more to build than elsewhere in Quebec.
decentralize financial aid
Gaspésie’s example should encourage the Quebec government to expand the powers of municipalities and regions, believes the President of the Federation of Quebec Municipalities.
“If we want to move faster and not wait ten years for subsidies, we have to decentralize housing programs because we can’t rely on a single model,” argues Jacques Demers.
The demand for housing in the regions has exploded with the pandemic.
“Thanks to telework, many people have arrived with their jobs, but without filling the vacancies in the regions. We now have more people to serve and we have quality of life to offer,” emphasizes Mr. Demers.
In 2020-2021, 232,000 people switched regions, 19% more than in the previous year. While Montreal lost 48,300 residents, several regions recorded gains, such as Gaspésie with 2,900 new residents.
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