6 October 2016

In conjunction with the Semaine sherbrookoise des rencontres interculturelles (Sherbrooke’s intercultural get-together events week), Pro-Gestion Estrie (PGE) and Sherbrooke Innopole have organized a visit to Sherbrooke today by some 40 information technology (IT) professionals. These are educated, French-speaking, landed immigrants in the immigration regionalization program on an exploratory mission to Sherbrooke.

The goal of this provincial program, spearheaded in the Estrie region by PGE, is to attract immigrants to fill jobs for which recruitment is more difficult. “Information technologies in the region are flourishing,” explained Marc-Henri Faure, Counsellor – Information & Communication Technologies at Sherbrooke Innopole. “But our businesses are faced with employee recruitment challenges, which are slowing their growth. The purpose of this matchmaking initiative is to introduce them to qualified professionals who have the potential to fill these needs.”

The event’s focal activity, to take place at the Centre Julien-Ducharme, will be a “speed interviewing” session during which about a dozen IT companies from Sherbrooke and Magog will meet the candidates, who will have beforehand been matched with the businesses that best match their skill sets and areas of interest.

“Immigrant workers are often very keen to move to the region. The quality of life offered in the Estrie region and the attractive job prospects here often swing the balance in our favour when an immigrant has to decide where to settle to pursue their career. The businesses on hand today have seized this opportunity,” noted Édith Lachance, immigration regionalization advisor at Pro-Gestion Estrie. 

This session will be followed by lunch at which Annie Godbout, City Councillor and Chair of the Comité des relations interculturelles et de la diversité (the City of Sherbrooke’s diversity and intercultural relations committee), will speak. The participants will then attend a presentation on Sherbrooke’s IT ecosystem given by Marc-Henri Faure. This ecosystem is comprised of nearly 2000 jobs, in roughly 100 companies, whose overall investments in 2015 exceeded $11M. These businesses work in an array of sectors, such as the aerospace industry, video games, cloud computing, geomatics, and the Internet. 

Prior to returning to Montréal, the candidates will tour Sherbrooke, stopping at several companies during the afternoon. The day will conclude with an activity hosted by Magog Technopole on the shores of Lake Magog.

Sources: Sherbrooke Innopole and Pro-Gestion Estrie
Photo credits: Sherbrooke Innopole