Published October 23, 2024

Nelson Sergerie, LJI Journalist

GASPÉ – The Eastern Shores School Board and the Chic Chocs School Service Centre will be the third in Quebec to offer the Construction Equipment Operator course at the start of the 2025 school year. 

The two organizations have obtained approval from the Quebec government to offer this training, which has been available since 2019 in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts through the Chic-Chocs, in partnership with the Navigateurs School Service Centre in Lévis, and since 2021 by Eastern Shores in New Carlisle, in collaboration with the Littoral School Service Centre on the North Shore. “It’s a very attractive program for our youth, and it’s a program that’s in high demand given the shortage of personnel in the construction sector,” says the interim director of the Chic-Chocs, Josée Synnott. 

 “It’s excellent news for our school board because it’s a permanent card. It’s a very appealing card. The demand is there to graduate many young people, who won’t have to leave the region to take the training. Companies are also asking us to train young people,” says Denise Simoneau, Director of Eastern Shores. 

Previously, the training was only offered in Quebec City or the South Shore of Montreal. At Eastern Shores, about sixty young people have been waiting to access the training. 

“It could go to about twenty young people per cohort,” says Ms. Simoneau. 

The training is offered at the Anchor in New Carlisle. 

“We’re not limited.” With a permanent card, we can offer training on the North Shore because we have a very large territory,” says the director of Eastern Shores. 

This is a project that has been in the Chic-Chocs’ plans for about fifteen years for Sainte-Anne-des-Monts. 

“This is a project that everyone in Haute-Gaspésie has dreamed of. The partnership with the Centre de services scolaire des Navigateurs allowed the Centre de services scolaire des Chic-Chocs to develop expertise. The same goes for Eastern Shores, which had provided training with provisional authorization to develop expertise with this program,” says Ms. Synnott. 

Infrastructure such as a school construction site is already in place but machinery will have to be purchased from the Chic-Chocs. 

“We have a team of competent teachers. There will be purchases to be made in terms of machinery. Having the infrastructure will reduce the cost of implementation,” notes Ms. Synnott, who could not yet quantify the investments required. 

“We still have a lot of things to tie up. We just got the information that we have the program,” added the interim director. 

This first partnership between the two entities could lead to other collaborations. 

“We hope to work on other programs. We will sit down together. We realize that by joining forces, it is a win-win situation. With the expertise of both organizations, it helps us offer more programs and see how we can work together,” said Ms. Simoneau. 

“We are not there yet. This is a first. We could start with our current programs and see what could be done,” noted Ms. Synnott. 

“I am very happy for the young people in the region, whether Francophone, Anglophone or Indigenous, who are interested in a career in construction. The collaboration between the parties deserves to be highlighted,” said Gaspé Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Stéphane Sainte-Croix. 

Guy Bernatchez, the prefect of Haute-Gaspésie, is also pleased with the continuation of the course in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts. He notes that the course had been requested for several years. However, the challenge of housing for future students remains. 

The MRC supports the Centre de services scolaire des Chic-Chocs in finding solutions. “They must continue to put pressure on their (Education) ministry. We must renovate the old residences in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts that are abandoned. This could create housing for future students,” notes the prefect. 

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