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<\/p>\nA new labour-market report is warning that Quebec\u2019s English-speaking population continues to face entrenched economic disadvantages, and that these disparities are costing the province far more than previously understood.<\/p>\n
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Researchers behind the study say the findings challenge long-held stereotypes about anglophones in Quebec and reveal a labour-market gap that is shrinking the province\u2019s economy annually.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s increasingly the opposite,\u201d said Nicholas Salter, executive director of the Provincial Employment Roundtable (PERT), which commissioned the research. \u201cThe poverty data is particularly stark and shocking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Researchers warn that these challenges are persistent, measurable and not going away without targeted intervention.<\/p>\n
According to the report, Quebec is losing more than $1.5 billion every year because English-speaking Quebecers continue to face lower wages, higher unemployment and nearly double the poverty rate of francophones.<\/p>\n
When those gaps are projected across the labour force, researchers estimate that the lost income annually is money that isn\u2019t being earned, spent or taxed.<\/p>\n
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According to 2021 census data, the unemployment rate among anglophones was 10.9 per cent, compared with 6.9 per cent among francophones.<\/p>\n
Even when considering age, education, region and immigration status, the employment rate for English speakers remained 2.8 points lower, and their wages nearly 12 per cent lower.<\/p>\n
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Salter said the findings are even more striking given that English-speaking Quebecers tend to be well educated and highly bilingual. Yet he says many still shy away from job postings requiring \u201cperfect\u201d French.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople\u00a0 (are) lacking confidence in their French language,\u201d he said. \u201cSo (they\u2019re) self-selecting themselves out of jobs that they\u2019re probably qualified for.\u201d<\/p>\n
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He believes the province should develop employment programs tailored to anglophones, including training to help workers build the technical French needed in professional environments.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we\u2019re able to close those gaps and actually get them at the same employment rate as francophones, earning the same amount as francophones, that\u2019s the amount of money that will be added to Quebec\u2019s economy,\u201d Salter said.<\/p>\n
According to other experts, the data is real, and rather predictable.<\/p>\n
Concordia economist Moshe Lander says the economic fallout isn\u2019t surprising and has seen the effects of it first-hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Concordia, at McGill, applications are down. Faculty are running away. Grad students who would normally be coming in are running away. They\u2019re going to go study elsewhere, which means that when they graduate, they\u2019re going to work elsewhere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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Lander says the gaps highlighted in the report aren\u2019t happening in isolation.<\/p>\n
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