History of Employment Politics in Quebec
Quebec has had a history of racism prevalent in the healthcare industry. Although there are members of the black community (either immigrants or Canadian-born) working in the healthcare sector in Quebec, there is a need to actively seek out additional skilled and trained healthcare workers of color.
In March of 2021, there was an incident where a recruitment letter from the Saint-Eustache Hospital in Quebec sought “white women only” (Spector, 2021). This caught the attention of Global News, and they interviewed a black female nurse who wanted to discuss the racist encounters she has had with both co-workers and patients. The nurse shared that she and other nurses of color have had to “hold back tears and remain silent” (Spector, 2021) for fear they may lose their jobs. She continued to describe an incident when a patient refused care due to the color of her skin stating, “no blacks” (Spector, 2021). She noted that this type of behavior occurs in hospitals, long-term care residences, and services that send nurses to senior citizens’ homes.
The Quebec government recently launched a program that focused on recruiting auxiliary nurses and administrative staff in response to the success of a similar program they had with recruiting orderlies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The program had significant success, which has led the Quebec government to want to replicate it for additional healthcare jobs. This program will attract 3,000 administrative staff and 2,000 auxiliary nurses and provide them with incentive bursaries and accelerated training programs (Saint-Arnaud, 2021).. Due to the history of racism in Quebec’s healthcare industry, the government wants to attract individuals of color.
Resources
Spector, D. (2021, March 19). ‘that’s just the tip of the iceberg’: Quebec Health Workers Talk about their experiences with racism – Montreal. Global News. Retrieved April 14, 2022, from https://globalnews.ca/news/7705473/quebec-health-workers-racism/
Saint-Arnaud, P. (2021, December 2). Quebec launches two programs to boost recruitment of health-care workers. montrealgazette. Retrieved April 14, 2022, from https://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/quebec-launches-two-programs-to-boost-recruitment-of-health-care-workers