5.51% of the population in high vulnerability in Rouyn-Noranda

This study establishes a high vulnerability index. To calculate it, the study’s author, economist Pierre Langlois, correlated data on low literacy with data on people in low income, and the market basket measure.

The combination of economic precariousness and low literacy leads to a spiral of poverty, explains Pierre Langlois.

If I’m on the job market, I’m on minimum wage, I combine different jobs, but that doesn’t allow me to live decently, I’m below the market basket. There, I don’t have the oxygen or the financial freedom to take a time out, upgrade my skills, embark on a vocational training program. So these are two phenomena that will feed each otherhe says.

Pierre Langlois points out that in the current context of labor shortage, employers will hire young workers at good wages, which may tempt them to leave school early to go to work.

If this young worker has to requalify because the factory is changing, the factory is closing or whatever, then he does not have all the basic notions and skills necessary to embark on a professional requalification process.argues Mr. Langlois.

The jobs available in the region accentuate this issue, underlines Marie-Claude Lacombe, general manager at Actionsuccess Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

The forestry and mining industries offer attractive jobs for many people in Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

Photo: The Canadian Press/Darryl Dyck

They [les jeunes] have access to low-skilled jobs such as mining and forestryshe says.

Another thing we know is that when the Cégep or the university is more than an hour’s drive from our house, it’s a barrier to access to higher education.adds Marie-Claude Lacombe, mentioning that this reality affects many people in Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

Ways out of the spiral of poverty

Alpha Témis’ Executive Director, Kim Morin-Perron, insists that solutions must be collective since poverty has impacts in all spheres of life.

Whether it’s when municipalities provide access to certain activities, we help people get out of exclusion, we help people create a network. It can help them find jobs, socializeshe points out. It’s everyone’s job, including employers, organizations and the general public.

Kim Morin-Perron recalls that the lack of daycare spaces can limit the availability of some parents to return to school.

On the side of Action for success, we focus in particular on projects that encourage reading from an early age.

When you have reading difficulties at school, the less interesting the school is and the more the risk of dropping out increasesnotes Marie-Claude Lacombe.

The director general of the Carrefour jeunesse emploi de Rouyn-Noranda, Jean-Luc Turpin, believes that it may be easier to find resources in the regions than in the major centres.

I believe that in Rouyn-Noranda there is still a great variety of resources to support these people. And since we are not a huge population pool, we know each other well, the resources, to be able to accompany and redirect people between us. Yes, there are people who are experiencing significant difficulties, but at the same time, there are a lot of resources aroundhe concludes.