DEFINITION
The social assistance and healthcare sector includes all the activities linked to health (hospitals, dental clinics, etc.) daycare centres and social assistance (psychology, social work, community services) and professional rehabilitation (professional guidance, training for unemployed people and people with physical or mental disabilities).

AN IMPORTANT SECTOR THAT IS EXPANDING
This sector accounted for 445,000 jobs in 2005, an increase of 0.8% compared to the previous year, which is the eighth consecutive increase. In fact, this sector has made the most progress by far between 2000 and 2005, gaining 72,000 employees (making an increase of 19% compared to 9%, the overall percentage of growth in the same period).

Health makes up more then 12% of all jobs in Quebec and 16% of the service sector, which makes it one of the most active areas of employment, just behind commerce and the manufacturing industry. Seven out of ten workers are employed in health while the rest of the labour force works in social assistance (for example at CLSCs or in community services).

THE DEVELOPMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES
As in other industrialized countries, one of the most significant changes in the Quebec economy since the 1960s has undoubtedly been the expansion of the tertiary or service sector, particularly in health and social services.

In fact, the strong economic growth that took place after the war, allowed for the development of health and social services. During the 1960s and 1970s, many large scale public policies were put into effect such as hospitalization insurance and health insurance. Moreover, with increased numbers of women entering the workforce, the need arose for new services such as daycare.

Finally, the population is aging which has given rise to an increase in services related to health and well-being such as group homes, long-term residences for the elderly and homecare workers.

A FEMALE WORKFORCE THAT IS GETTING OLDER
Women represent around 80% of the labour in this sector. However, one quarter of these jobs are part-time and 12% of jobs are filled by self-employed workers. Despite massive retirements in 1997, the number of workers aged 45 years or older rose from 22% in 1987 to 44% in 2005. This age group represents more than 50% of personnel working in rest homes and long-term care facilities. On the other hand, workers under 30 have seen their numbers decrease by nearly half in the same period, dropping from 33% down to 19%.

HEALTH VERSUS SOCIAL SERVICES
The reality is that each of these areas of this sector (Health on the one hand, and social services on the other) is very different from one another. Health, which employs more than 300,000 people and 70% of the sector overall, saw job rates increase by 3.4% in 2005, which is three times higher than the overall growth rates of the job market (1%). However, it is significant to note that between 2000 and 2005, on three occasions, the health sector provided 10,000 new jobs in a single year, which makes this sub-sector, along with construction, the locomotive in the work market since 2001.

JOB PROSPECTS
The aging population in Quebec and the number of aging employees in this sector will bring about an increase in health and social service needs. What’s more, a lot of people will be leaving due to retirement, resulting in a significant increase in the demand for labour, which will likely lead to good job prospects in this sub-sector. It should also be noted that health is one of the priorities of the Quebec government bringing with it major investments in this area.

According to Emploi-Quebec, it is the health and social services sector that will create the greatest number of jobs between 2006 and 2010, just before commerce. This increase will translate into an additional number of jobs for 59,000 people during this period, which will result in an annual average increase of 2.5% (double the average growth rate of employment in Quebec). Healthcare and social assistance service should employ more than 500,000 people by 2010.

TRADES OFFERING GOOD JOB PROSPECTS
According to Emploi-Quebec, several trades in the health and social services sector offer excellent job prospects from now until 2010. Note that the list below is not exhaustive.