2024-02-10 05:00:00
Foreign welders from the four corners of the world come to breathe new life into our factories, which do not have the luxury of doing without these experienced workers, whose number has soared by 28% in just a short space of time. a year.
“My wife and my son are in Brazil. They should arrive here next April. I am happy to live in Quebec,” confides Edson Da Silva Batista, who arrived here on January 12 to work at the Quebec P&W Machinery welding and bending plant.
Like Edson, these motivated workers come from Brazil, the Philippines, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritius and even Colombia.
Between 2021 and 2022, their number jumped by 385, or 28%, from 1,370 to 1,755, according to data from the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI).
Even if this is a fraction of the 35,215 temporary foreign worker permit holders issued last year, this jump shows the extent to which their presence now shapes the Quebec economy outside of the agricultural world as in the past.
Benefits of $250,000
These welders are worth their weight in gold here. Each employee would generate benefits of $250,000, according to recent estimates from Statistics Canada.
“They are necessary in Quebec, otherwise there would probably be a transfer of factories outside Quebec and others which would close their doors,” goes so far as to say Carl Boily, general director of the Sectoral Labor Committee. of work in industrial metal manufacturing (PERFORM).
According to him, this is not a panacea, however, because it is a “temporary” solution in a sector where labor issues are “permanent”.
“We are aging. There are not enough young people coming back,” notes Maryse Camiré, project manager for the Réseau de la transformation musicale du Québec (RTMQ), which brings together companies in the metal processing industry.
Maryse Camiré, project manager of the Metal Transformation Network of Quebec (RTMQ) Provided by Maryse Camiré
Here, welders can earn from $39 per hour to nearly $43 per hour, according to collective agreements, but you can earn even more with overtime.
“It’s great to talk regarding robotization, but not all companies can afford it,” says Maryse Camiré, of the RMTQ.
NUMBER OF PROFESSIONALS AND VACANCIES FOR MAIN PROFESSIONS Provided by Sectoral Committee for Manpower in Industrial Metal Manufacturing (PERFORM)
Twenty golden guys
In Quebec, at Machinerie P&W, there are around twenty foreign workers out of the hundred in the workshop. Among these, around ten are welders.
“I was in São Paulo last April. We made them take around ten practical tests and job interviews. I kept four,” summarizes the human resources manager, Sébastien Wagner.
Quebecer Bruno Paradis, president of the recruitment firm Sterna Mobilité Internationale, visited the Escola do Funileiro de São Paulo this week to find welders. Provided by Sterna Mobilité Internationale
The last daysThe newspaper joined in Brazil the Quebecer Bruno Paradis, president of the recruitment firm Sterna Mobilité Internationale, on an interested visit to the Escola do Funileiro de São Paulo.
“From May 20 to 24, we are organizing a Brazil-Quebec international recruitment fair, so we are starting to identify welders, CNC machinists, electromechanics, automobile and heavy vehicle mechanics,” he declared.
“Some learn French beforehand. When the contract is signed, we take them on a 100-hour course so that they learn our language,” he continued.
About a hundred kilometers away, at Métal Sartigan, in Saint-Georges, the factory might not do without its three Filipino welders who are as dedicated as they are friendly.
“Despite the language barrier, they contribute to our community in extraordinary ways. The Cadao family, for example, volunteers for Moisson Beauce,” concludes Kate Kirouac, director of human resources at the company.
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