Sarah Rennie – LJI reporter

The Montérégie-West Community Network (MWCN) hosted the region’s first employment roundtable focused exclusively on the five MRCs that make up the Montérégie on September 26 at the wellness centre in Huntingdon.

Around 25 representatives from local employment-oriented organizations as well as regional development groups participated in the meeting, which included a presentation by the Provincial Employment Roundtable (PERT) on employment statistics in the region.

“We want to talk about the issues and try to find solutions to employability issues within the region,” said Joanne Basilières, the MWCN’s employability and mental health coordinator. She invited PERT to present the findings of its recently released employment profile of English speakers in the Montérégie, and to start a dialogue amongst the group on meeting the challenges facing this community.

Chad Walcott, the director of engagement and communications for PERT, opened his presentation by acknowledging English speakers are facing growing challenges in the labour market, with higher unemployment rates, lower incomes, and persistent barriers to accessing essential French language training. These are the main findings of the report, which also notes a widening gap in the unemployment rate between English and French speakers in Montérégie.

Since the 2016 Census, the unemployment rate for English speakers has increased from 7.5 per cent to 9.1 per cent, while the rate for French speakers has remained steady at 5.8 per cent. The stats are showing a consistent trend, says Walcott. “The gaps are there, and they are persisting,” he said, noting that while some of the data from the 2021 census may have been influenced by the pandemic, the gaps have been present since 2011 and even earlier.

In the Montérégie region, the English-speaking population accounts for 13.3 per cent of the total population, while in the Haut-Saint-Laurent, English speakers make up 30.4 per cent of the population. This is the second highest percentage after Vaudreuil-Soulanges, where 34 per cent of the population identify as English-speaking.

The unemployment rate among French speakers in the Haut-Saint-Laurent sits at 6.8 per cent, while 8.2 per cent of English speakers are unemployed. In Beauharnois-Salaberry, 5.9 per cent of French speakers are unemployed, while 9.1 per cent of those who speak English do not have jobs.

In the Haut-Saint-Laurent, English-speaking visible minorities are at the greatest disadvantage, where 25.8 per cent are unemployed. This figure is twice as high as in every other MRC in the Montérégie. Across the region, the unemployment rate for visible minorities is 10.9 per cent.

Walcott noted that along with a higher unemployment rate, English speakers were also earning less. In the Haut-Saint-Laurent, for example, English speakers earn roughly $3,800 less per year than their French-speaking neighbours, while visible minorities who speak English earn $9,000 less per year.

Walcott explained that even though English speakers are participating in the job market, there is a blockage. “The fit is not there for the job market,” he said, noting that this holds true despite the fact English speakers are generally more educated and are more likely to identify as bilingual.

For example, 80 per cent of English speakers in the Haut-Saint-Laurent have at least a secondary school diploma or equivalency certificate, while 72 per cent of French speakers have attained this level of education. The bilingualism rate for English speakers is 66.7 percent, while 50.9 per cent of French speakers identify as bilingual.

During the discussion that followed Walcott’s presentation, one participant noted that many want to work with the English-speaking population, but the resources are simply not there. “It is easier to hire someone who is handicapped than it is to hire someone who is unilingually English,” she pointed out.

Many suggested more funding for work-integrated learning programs would help English speakers gain professional skills while improving their French-Language skills on the job. Others pointed to a lack of funding for industry-specific language training as an issue, as well as the integration challenges facing English speakers working in French environments.