By William Crooks

Local Journalism Initiative

In the face of upcoming Quebec government legislation set to prohibit the use of independent labour in the Townships by 2025, the CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS has yet to show a reduction in its reliance on such labour. As of the mid 2023-2024 fiscal year, the hours clocked by independent workers at the CIUSSS increased to 185,000 — 100,000 hours more than the previous year at the same time.

This comes after Marc-Antoine Rouillard, Assistant Director of Human Resources, Communications, and Legal Affairs of the CIUSSS expressed confidence back in February about the organization’s trajectory in reducing its dependence on placement agencies by the stipulated 2025 deadline, especially as it aligns with the upcoming Bill 10 affecting ‘bordering territories’ like the Townships.

Sherbrooke MNA Christine Labrie released a statement Monday morning regarding the use of independent labour at the CIUSSS.

“It’s discouraging to see that not only are we failing to free ourselves from agencies, but we are also moving away from this goal. I am particularly concerned about the explosion in the use of private agencies for social workers or educators. In social services, especially in youth protection, establishing a trust relationship is fundamental, and this requires stable teams. Using agencies seriously compromises the quality of social services provided to the most vulnerable individuals,” Labrie commented.

“We need as many qualified and competent people as we can get to meet the needs of the population,” Rouillard explained. It is not currently possible to fill these roles with public sector employees alone.

The cause of the Townships’ lack of public sector employees is “multifactorial”, he continued, though he admitted he is not a specialist. One reason is that the population is getting older and requires more complex care. Quebec is suffering a general labour shortage that affects healthcare as well, he added.

We need to work on retaining, making these jobs more attractive, and providing better working conditions, he went on. One positive step they have taken in the Townships is to allow employees to participate in forming their own schedules. Because schedules are planned so far in advance, more difficult periods for making sure there is adequate coverage, like during the summer, have been handled “with good results”. They have also given employees more flexibility in choosing when they can take their vacation. Finally, they have reintroduced surveys to gauge employee satisfaction and get a better idea of where they can improve.

When asked how the CIUSSS would deal with their future inability to hire private contractors in 2025, Rouillard insisted a major factor would be continuing to make the jobs that need filling “as attractive as possible”. The Townships region is better positioned to make up for the lack of staff than other regions, since the percentage of private contractors they use is less (two to three per cent vs. five per cent), he added.

It must be recognized that they face a difficult challenge, he said, but they should be able to meet it together with other regions in a synchronized way. It would be much more difficult if the Townships were the only region facing this dilemma.