Covid-19 in Quebec: massive recruitment in retirement homes struggles to convince
The massive recruitment policy launched by Quebec Prime Minister Francois Legault in retirement homes is struggling to bear fruit.
AP - Jacques Boissinot
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
The murderous death toll of Covid-19 continues to grow in Canada, and particularly in Quebec, one of the regions of the world where the epidemic has wreaked havoc among the elderly.
It must be said that the virus spread like wildfire this spring among residents of nursing homes facing a lack of staff.
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With our correspondent in Montreal,
Pascale Guéricolas
Aware of the chronic shortage of staff in retirement homes, which welcome very elderly residents, the Premier of Quebec François Legault launched an unprecedented operation in May.
His government suddenly recruits 10,000 people to feed, change, wash, patients with loss of autonomy, and pay them 30% more than current employees.
In a few weeks, training is set up and the first graduates take up their post at the beginning of September.
Suddenly, retirement homes saw their workforce increase by 26%.
Very encouraging on paper, this assessment must however be qualified.
Several thousand people left the training en route, or did not receive their diploma.
And the vocation of some has not withstood the shock of reality, especially since the employees in place, less paid than the newcomers, have not always welcomed them with open arms.
►Also read: Coronavirus: Canada regularizes foreign healthcare workers
As a result of the races, several early volunteers came out of this adventure battered and in debt.
The agreement with the government provides that they must reimburse their training allowances of around 6,000 euros if they do not work for at least one year with the elderly.
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