Québec Marine Transportation Policy - Transport - Gouvernement ...

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The balance of upriver and downriver traffic on the Saint-Laurent is another factor which has a
severe impact on the competitiveness of the Saint-Laurent-Great Lakes system. The movement of
ore upriver and grain downriver still accounts for most of the complementary traffic. This element
of complementarity is essential to guarantee increased activity on the Saint-Laurent, especially for
bulk cargo, because transportation costs are usually a major factor in the price of finished products.
As for all raw materials or manufactured products, whenever the sale price includes significant
transportation costs, the transportation industry must offer cost-competitive services.
Several other reasons can account for the decrease in traffic on the Saint-Laurent. During recent
years, economic changes brought about by the technological revolution, trade liberalization and
mergers and acquisitions by multinational companies have changed the old economic order.
These changes have also had a profound impact on the transport industry and in particular on
the freight transportation industry.
The shipping industry must, therefore, be competitive and take advantage of the strategic location
of the Saint-Laurent on the North American continent in order to meet the challenges of a
changing world.
2.3 The workforce : hiring and training
There has been an increasing trend worldwide in recent years to improve working conditions for seafarers
and to force offending operators to bring the condition of their vessels in line with existing
standards. In order to ensure maritime safety and preserve the quality of their environment,
sovereign states impose increasingly stringent international certification standards for all seafarers
arriving in their ports.
During consultations held in June and August 2000 and in March 2001, several participants
emphasized the difficulty of hiring competent workers. Some explained that they often had to
recruit officers abroad and even went so far as to suggest that there is a crisis in the shipping
industry job market. The situation is especially worrisome as high quality and well-paid jobs were
involved.
In 1998, Québec took over responsibility for manpower training
from the federal government and services are currently managed
by Emploi-Québec. The Ministère de l’Éducation du Québec also
published a document entitled “Vers une politique de la formation
continue”. This document was used by the Institut maritime du
Québec to define its position on the training of all maritime
workers.
Current training needs must be defined by employers and it is
important that this training be adapted to the demands of the
job market to produce competent workers in sufficient numbers.
To this end it is proposed that the cost of training be covered by
a national fund for this specific purpose. This responsibility has
been given to the Table sectorielle de l’industrie maritime du
Québec to ensure that all the workers in this sector have access
to training programs.