HISTORY OF THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY IN QUEBEC
The manufacturing sector consolidates all the activities associated with the manufacturing of durable goods (such as computer products or transportation equipment) and non-durable goods (such as food or clothing products). In 2006, this sector provided 616,000 jobs, 17% of the overall total in the province. This sector has developed a lot in the past 30 years, firstly in terms of its overall importance in comparison with other sectors such as the service industry, the agriculture industry, mining, as well as its relative importance in the sub-sectors that make up this industry

THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY CONTINUES TO BE AN IMPORTANT EMPLOYER
As in all developed countries, the service sectors (health, education, commerce, finance) have increasingly gained in importance in terms of employment, much to the detriment of the manufacturing sector. In 1976, the manufacturing sector’s share of the total job market rose to 23%. The significant drop in the percentage of manufacturing jobs is not due to a decrease in the number of employees in this sector rather to the steady increase of service sector jobs. It was not until 2006 that the number of jobs in the manufacturing sector dropped slightly below 1976 levels. Nevertheless, the situation does seem to be improving since Emploi-Quebec does forecasts a minor increase in growth at 0.4% annually, which should bring the number of employees in the manufacturing sector up to 627,000 by 2010.

DIFFERENT SUB-SECTOR OF THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR

If the fabrication of non-durable products provided the majority of manufacturing jobs until 1996, nowadays it is the manufacturing of durable goods that makes up 54% of the active workforce in this sector. The steady decline in the number of jobs in non-durable manufacturing since 1987 is attributable to decreases observed in the clothing and leather products industry, textiles (except technical textiles) and to a lesser extent in the paper industry. In spite of this, there were appreciable gains in the food and beverage sector.

According to Emploi-Quebec, by 2010, the manufacturing sector will experience an increase in jobs in the following sub-sectors: machinery manufacturing, transportation equipment, computer, electric and electronic products, food and beverage manufacturing, as well the manufacturing of rubber and plastic products.

THE FOOD, BEVERAGE AND TOBACCO PRODUCT MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

The manufacturing of food, beverage and tobacco products is by far the most important area in the manufacturing industry in Quebec, with 75,000 jobs (making up 12% of overall jobs in the manufacturing sector). Since 1987, food manufacturing has generated significant growth (particularly in meat and baked goods) and it now makes up the greatest share of jobs in this sector, rising up to 89% of overall jobs.

Although this industry has suffered some setbacks with the cutbacks at Olymel, the closing of the Kraft factories in LaSalle and Sainte-Therese, and the relocation of Imperial Tobacco (du Maurier, Player’s) to Mexico, there have been some good news as well. Important investments have been announced by Biscuits Leclerc in Quebec city and by the Labatt Group in LaSalle, not to mention the many other smaller scale projects on the way. Emploi-Quebec anticipates an increase in jobs by 1.8% per year until 2010, (compared to an overall increase of 1.2% of the workforce in Quebec), which should provide jobs for 82,000 people in this sector.

TRANSPORTATION EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING
Nearly 60% of the 52,000 jobs in this sector are concentrated in the manufacturing of aerospace products and slightly more than 25% in automobile and auto parts manufacturing. In 2002, 62,000 people were employed in this sector, making it the second most important employer in the Quebec manufacturing industry. However, other factors have had a negative effect on the industry such as the closing of the GM plant in Boisbriand, the recession that hit the United Sates at the beginning of the decade and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 (severely affecting the air transport industry). This has resulted in a significant drop in production by 20% after 2002, bringing with it a similar decline in the number of jobs.

Despite this, job perspectives in this sector are good. Production increased by 8% in 2005 and should continue to grow on average by 5% until 2010. Employment is expected to rise by 2.1% per year, more than 50% higher than the average rate of increase to reach a total of 57,000 employees. Even though Bombardier has abandoned its Series C project and moved its operations of electric wiring assembly for its planes to Mexico, the Quebec company is currently experiencing a lot of success in its business planes, which is a growth market. Moreover, the International Civil Aviation Organization predicts a two-fold increase in worldwide traffic of air passengers in the next 15 years. In addition, several suppliers of aircraft parts and components (Héroux-Devtek, Pratt & Whitney, Flight Dynamics Corporation) plan to make some investments, creating hundreds of jobs. In the railway parts industry, Bombardier Transport won the contracts to replace the old subway cars in both the Montreal and Chicago subway systems. In the automobile and autoparts industry, several companies (Spectra, Premium, Oerlikon, Dayco, Symphony Industries) have won new contracts which should lead to more jobs in this sector. Even though the Shipbuilding company, MIL Davie in Levis, is in receivership, it will likely be bought by the Norwegian Company, Teco Management, regaining control of five oil drilling rigs, estimated at $750 million, to be delivered by 2008, which will raise the number of jobs from 150 to more than 2,000 people.

METAL PRODUCT MANUFACTURING
This industry is particularly sensitive to the overall economic health of the North American economy; therefore, the number of employees can vary significantly from one year to another. With 46,000 employees, it is now the fourth largest employer in the manufacturing sector (it was the fifth largest in 1987). Growth has been concentrated mainly in the manufacturing of architectural products, steel frames, and factory workshops.

Emploi-Quebec expects an average increase in jobs by 1.7% per year (greater than the overall average increase in the job market, given that annual growth is estimated at 1.2%) by 2010. This is due in most part to Alcan, which created hundreds of jobs in secondary aluminum manufacturing (in exchange for a block of energy for the Alouette aluminum plant) and in other projects, such as the successful penetration of the Quebec wind energy market by the Marmen enterprise from Trois-Rivières.

COMPUTER, ELECTRIC AND ELECTRONIC PRODUCT MANUFACTURING
This sector currently ranks seventh overall in terms of employers in the manufacturing industry. It is expected that the replacement of an outdated computer park will create a strong demand for computer equipment in North America. What’s more, large scale production of computer equipment and electronic equipment tends to be outsourced to Asian countries where salaries are much lower. As a result, in 2005 Viasystems closed two of its circuitry board factories in Montreal West. Nevertheless, certain products that are more specialized, suffered less from Asian competition, particularly in the fields of military medicine, aeronautics (CAE and flight simulators) and security. Moreover, Hydro-Quebec’s projects and its wind farms will help develop the manufacturing of equipment and distribution of electricity.

In this sector, 4,000 new jobs will have been created by 2010, resulting in a 1.9% increase in employment, one of the highest rates of increase amongst all the manufacturing industries.

TRADES OFFERING GOOD JOB PROSPECTS
According to Emploi-Quebec, several different trades in the manufacturing sector have favourable hiring prospects until 2010. See below a list of jobs and prospects. Note that it is not an exhaustive list.