A report by the Provincial Round Table on Employment (PERT) released on February 17 shows that the unemployment rate for English-speaking Quebecers (8.9%) is 2% higher than that of French-speaking Quebecers (6.9%), while the provincial average is 7.2%.
Anglophones have higher unemployment rates in 15 of the province’s 17 administrative regions, he found, particularly in the Capitale Nationale, Abitibi-Témiscamingue and Côte-Nord — where their unemployment rate reaches 25.5%.
“This report challenges the myth of English speakers in Quebec as a rich and homogeneous community,” said Nicholas Salter, executive director of PERT, in A press release.
“Given the current labor shortage, this report demonstrates the importance of developing solutions to ensure that English-speaking communities in Quebec are able to contribute fully to building a strong and dynamic,” he continued.
The report also found that Anglophone Quebecers have a lower median after-tax income than Francophones in 14 of 17 regions, particularly in Estrie, Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Nord-du-Québec and Centre-du-Québec. In Centre-du-Québec, Anglophones earn at least $4,000 less than Francophones.
“Anglophones — who represent 13.8% of Quebec’s population and 14.3% of its labor force — face considerable challenges in the labor market,” the report said.
Anglophones had the lowest labor force participation in resource-based and manufacturing regions such as Estrie, Abitibi–Témiscamingue, Nord-du-Québec, Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine and the Laurentians.
PERT, a nonprofit group that focuses on the employment challenges facing the Anglophone community in Quebec, used the 2016 census data and the latest information from the Statistical Institute of Quebec to create the report, saying that “new employment policy measures and new programs must be based on a common understanding of the diverse needs of communities, including linguistic minorities.
“Once considered a homogeneous elite, the English-speaking community in Quebec has undergone considerable change over the past four decades,” the report states. “Today, the English-speaking population of Quebec is made up of a heterogeneous group of communities.”
“Quebec’s English-speaking communities are also increasingly diverse,” he continues. “A quarter of the English-speaking population of Quebec belongs to a visible minority, the majority of which is black or South Asian.”
