| Morgan Gagnon, Policy Lead, PERT
Sithandazile Kuzviwanza, Director of Policy & Research, PERT
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This report sheds light on the unique labour market challenges experienced by Québec’s English-speaking racialized and immigrant communities. The data shows these communities face high unemployment rates, lower incomes, and a higher likelihood of falling below the low-income cut-off (LICO) compared to their French-speaking counterparts. Most notably, the report also highlights a significant lack of targeted and specialized employment supports to address the employment and economic obstacles experienced by these communities.
Key Findings:
- Racialized communities and immigrants have difficulty accessing employment services owing to a lack of English-language services and the language barrier associated with accessing French-language services.
- English-speaking visible minorities have an unemployment rate of 12.3% compared to a 10.9% unemployment rate for the total English-speaking population.
- Indigenous individuals who speak English as their FOL have a higher unemployment rate than the total ESC (12.2% compared to 10.9%).
- Immigrants who speak English as their FOL have an unemployment rate of 11.6%, compared to 10.9% within the broader English-speaking community, 9.0% among French-speaking immigrants, and 6.9% among all individuals who speak French as their FOL.
- The study identified 67 employment and employability programs targeted towards racialized communities, immigrants, and Indigenous communities that speak English as their FOL, with the majority (29) located in Montréal.
- Demographic and labour force portraits reveal that one-third (35.9%) of English-speaking Quebecers are visible minorities (447,078 individuals). First Nations, Inuit, and Métis individuals who speak English as their FOL comprise 4.0% of the English-speaking community in Québec (50,040). One-third (32.5%) of the English-speaking community in Québec consists of immigrants (404,573 individuals).
- The research highlights the need for employment service provision to consider the holistic needs of racialized clients, and immigrants, including housing, food, mental health, illness, and childcare. Language barriers often hinder access to employment services, and ad-hoc measures like translation support are common.
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