Quebec woos anglos for jobs in the public sector
QUEBEC English-speaking Quebecers, the government wants you.
The Quebec Treasury Board has launched a large-scale call for applicants for professional jobs in Quebec’s civil service and is hoping anglophones get aboard the hiring bandwagon.
There are currently 1,500 full and part-time positions available, largely in the Quebec City and Montreal regions as well as others in the regions, including Abitibi-Témiscamingue and Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine.
“There’s a hiring blitz. The important thing is we want to be really proactive by using our networks. The message is ‘we need you in the civil service and it’s an interesting career,’ ” Kathleen Weil, minister responsible for relations with the English-speaking community, said in an interview Thursday.
“We want to get them when they are very young. I have met with school boards and high schools, universities.”
Asked about the historic failure of the Quebec civil service to hire more minorities — the percentage has been about one per cent in a pool of 60,000 for many years — Weil said Quebec this time will be more aggressive in its appeal.
Weil said the appeal goes beyond a simple cattle call and the government is working with community organizations and institutions to get the word out and encourage English-speaking Quebecers to apply.
“I am really determined to take the bull by the horns and make sure that the government is everywhere introducing young Quebecers to the possibilities of working in the civil service,” Weil said.
“I think it’s because we were always passive, that’s why the numbers never moved from one per cent for years.”
Officials said there are three main employment groups with openings, but here is the list of specific job types: program development and evaluation, project management, administration and finance, economics, statistics and research.
“Increasing the number of applicants and creating a strong database of candidates is the first step toward increased representation of English-speaking Quebecers in the civil service,” Weil said.
The blitz for applicants runs until June 19. Candidates need to have a university bachelor’s degree, although years of experience in a pertinent domain can count toward this requirement.
As for French proficiency, all applicants have to pass a general test. It is multiple choice.
If the candidate makes it to the interview level with a ministry, it will be in French. The person has
We want to get them when they are very young. I have met with school boards and high schools, universities.
to show their French is “functional,” a government official said.
The drive for anglophones follows an announcement last week by Treasury Board president Pierre Arcand — who is responsible for the civil service — that the government wants to double the number of ethnic and visible minorities in its employment during the next five years.
The objective is 18 per cent, Arcand said in a statement.
Overall, the government says that because of retirements, Quebec will need to fill a total of 15,000 jobs with new employees during the next five years.
“The contribution of visible and ethnic minorities is more than welcome,” Arcand said. “Reinforcing integration measures to better reflect the realities of today is in the interests of the public sector.”
There is currently no talk of imposing a quota system to boost minority numbers despite a recent study suggesting just that.