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Draft version (Please do not cite)

Actions for inclusion at a local level

The case of the “Work Integration Social Enterprises” in Quebec

Marco Alberio

Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay

Paper for the Participatory local welfare, citizenship and third sector organizations.

What is at stake?

Pisa (Italy), 31st January - 1st February, 2013

Marco Alberio

Assistant Professor at Université Sainte Anne; Church Point, Nova Scotia – Canada

Researcher at Aruc Gats – Teluq – Université du Québec; Montréal, Québec – Canada

Diane Gabrielle Tremblay

Director of the CURA (Community-University Research Alliance) on work-life balance over the

lifecourse (SSHRC) Teluq – Université du Québec; Montréal, Québec –Canada

Canada Research Chair on the socio-organizational challenges of the Knowledge Economy)-

Professor at the school of management Télé-université, Université du Québec

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Introduction

After having provided a picture of the general negative situation that is affecting youth in most

countries, we will propose an analysis of what we could define as a “best practice”: the

“Entreprises d’ insertion” - Work Integration Social Entreprises (WISE) in Canada and Quebec in

particular, which contribute to socio professional integration of youth.

Our general focus will be on Europe, on the US and Canada. To contextualize our research, we

will present data for different years, and we will observe how youth is extremely touched by the

current economic crisis. We will present some recent data on unemployment rates and other

elements concerning the quality of jobs and the position of the youngest population in the labour

market, which is quite often the most precarious and at risk.

The hypothesis that we will try to defend is that despite the economic, institutional, cultural and

social differences, we can generally observe, in particular in western European countries, a sort of

“generational waste” and as we will argue, the already difficult generational situation can be even

harder depending on the vulnerability and profile of individuals.

However, of course, when talking about young people, the risk is to consider them as just one

homogeneous group, having all similar characteristics: something which is not at all the case.

This is the reason why in our article, we will distinguish the different profiles and variables that

can worsen the situation of an individual (age group, social background, level of education, ethnic

origin, immigrant status...).

In Europe (in particular) and North America we have observed a rising unemployment in recent

years; especially after the economic and financial crisis, many countries have adopted measures

to try to boost employment and growth, but this has not had the expected effects. Governments

tried to reduce the high and persistent unemployment, stimulating the creation of low-wage jobs

for unskilled workers who were previously assisted by traditional welfare programs. In many

cases, they have created lower level, less protected and less paid jobs. All these changes in

Western economies, being mainly the outcome of unemployment and strong competitive

pressures, have significantly changed the labor market, causing a worsening of the quality and

protection of employment and a higher inequality among workers.

As many studies have shown, there are inequalities between individuals and groups based on

various factors including, among others: age, gender, nationality / ethnicity, language and

residence. Taking into consideration the variable of age, there is for instance in many European

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countries a strong generational fracture between adults and young people. Young people become

to a certain extent "outsiders", often being excluded from the labor market. The situation has been

generally less severe in North America and two main factors can explain this difference in youth

unemployment compared to Europe. The first is the flexibility of the labour market which, despite

the significant recent changes in Europe, still remains higher in North America; this translates

into precarious jobs, but it seems in the end also to favour a certain integration in the labour

market.

The second element, which is true especially in the case of Canada (Quebec), is the presence of

local community initiatives, supported by the State, such as the “Entreprises d’insertion” or Work

Integration Social Enterprises (WISE). These organizations have been developed at a local level,

mainly in the area of Montreal and aim in particular at the socio professional integration of young

people, having experienced major difficulties in education, in integration in the labour market,

personal and family life.

Our observations are based on a literature review on local initiatives and socio territorial

development in Quebec (Tremblay and Fontan 1994; Tremblay, Klein and Fontan 2009) and on

two researches that we have recently conducted on the WISE (Alberio, Tremblay 2012)1.

The Work Integration Social Entreprises (WISE) in Quebec have been first created in the early

eighties and have grown during the nineties, when a new generation of companies from several

sectors, including information technology, have added to those already present in more traditional

areas such as restaurants and catering, cleaning services etc. These community organizations are

supported by the State2, with a clear mission of social and professional integration. They are part

of the social economy sector and to be recognized as such, they must meet seven criteria set by

the “Collective des Entreprises d`Insertion du Québec” and recognized by the provincial

Government: social integration mission; difficult characteristics of the participants; employee

status for the workers in training, personalized support, comprehensive training (personal, social

and technical); partnership with stakeholders and local communities; to be a real business. As all

other firms, therefore, next to their integration tasks, they need to manage human, material and

financial issues and produce services or products following the normal standards of quality

specific to their sector of activity. « On fait partie de l’économie, je suis une entreprise

manufacturière qui est un sous-traitant industriel d’autres entreprises. Je fais partie du marché,

1 Please see for example: Alberio M. and Tremblay D-G. Les aspirations chez les jeunes de classe populaire

en formation dans les entreprises d’insertion au Québec. Défi Jeunesse (CJM et Université de Montréal)

forthcoming.

2 To be more precise it is about an agreement between the government of Quebec and the “entreprises

d`insertion” for the provision of services (of socio professional integration).

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mais ma finalité n’est pas le rendement» (Formétal – Director).

They have a double function: socio professional integration and training on one side and the real

economic activity (with a profit objective) on the other3. These work integration enterprises target

(young) people in serious socio-economic difficulties, who need a strong support and training to

integrate the labour market and have shown particularly effective during the last period of

economic crisis (CEIQ 20114), that even if to lesser extent compared to Europe, has also affected

Canada and the province of Quebec. They provide an average working experience of about 26

weeks, enabling people to acquire skills and specific knowledge. They are considered as a

"bridge" giving these workers a complete training from a professional but also a psycho-social

perspective.

To conclude our introduction, as we will observe in a specific section of this article, the Work

Integration Social Entreprises have been first created in Europe and in particular in Belgium and

France but in the Canadian – Quebec experience they developed differently, targeting through

several actions in most cases young people, with great difficulties on a personal, family and

socio-professional level and it is from this perspective that we consider them as a positive

example of local/national5 initiatives.

Youth, between the right to citizenship and the current situation of the labour market

In most developed societies, population aging represents a major challenge in demographic,

social and economic terms. The presence of youth is therefore an important index: “a youthful

population is considered a formidable asset for innovation and creativity in economies and

societies. However in order for countries to fully realize this potential and capitalize on the

“youth dividend” young people need to be productively employed and integrated in the society”

(ILO report V; 2012 p. 8).

On the contrary the general situation seems to be far distant from this. As some recent strikes,

protests and in some cases revolutions have also shown, the situation of young people seems to be

difficult in many countries all around the world. These are very different social phenomena, since

of course we cannot compare the protests in Egypt, Tunisia, the “indignados” movement in Spain

and consequently in Greece and Italy, or the “Occupy Wall Street” in the US. Some of these

movements also developed in Canada and Québec, where the average situation of young people

seems to be less dramatic compared for example to Europe. In Canada and Québec the students’

3 The pure economic activity should self-sufficient and does not receive any incentive or governmental

support. 4 Étude d’impacts socio-économiques des entreprises d’insertion au Québec.

5 Due to the role of the Quebec government through “Emploi Quebec”.

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protest against the increase of university fees became for example a real protest movement,

mobilizing thousands of people all around Québec. However, all these phenomena are very

different, but a common element can be underlined: most of them are youth-led movements and

represent in part an answer to the generational crisis.

Beside these events, which are only the visible and socio-political responses, the most important

element to consider in the analysis of this generational crisis is the situation of employment and

the labour market.

In particular, in Western industrialized countries the situation of the youth labour market and their

prospects appear to be very negative also compared to previous generations.

The problem is double, concerning on the one hand the very high unemployment rates for young

people, and on the other the quality of jobs and working instability.

In addition, this situation of the labour market is also accompanied by the problems of many

welfare states and their capacity to ensure social protection, before, during and after work.

It is indeed from this perspective that we can underline significant inter-generational inequalities,

often placing youth as the most vulnerable part of the population.

At the same time, besides considering the inter-generational inequalities, it is also decisive to take

into account the rising inequalities within the same cohort and the different risk profiles. Over

several decades inequalities among youth, due to the differences in education, social background,

origins etc. have become an issue and nowadays, in the current context of the employment crisis,

these inequalities seem to have also increased in many countries (ILO report V; 2012).

Youth and unemployment

In most countries we observe a decline in the employment and participation rates of young

people. As the ILO 2012 data indicate, between 2000 and 2011 the labour force participation rate

decreased globally from 52.9 to 48.7 %. In absolute terms, the employed youth has increased by

16 million between 2001 and 2011. However, taking the growth of the young population into

account, there is a consequent decrease of youth employment at a global level; this is all the more

preoccupying as we observe an increase in the participation in education (ILO: Global

employment trends).

6

Global youth and adult unemployment rates and youth unemployment, 1991–20126

Comparison of youth unemployment in the 1990s and 2008 recession7 in some EU countries

6 Cited in “The Youth employment crisis: Time for action” (ILO 2012)

7 Young people and NEETs in Europe: First findings

(http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2011/72/en/1/EF1172EN.pdf)

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Official youth unemployment rates and adjusted rates accounting for reduced labour force

participation, 20108

As we can observe from the first graph, at a global level youth unemployment is far from being a

recent phenomenon, since also during the nineties it already represented an issue. However, the

last 5 years, mainly due to the economic global crisis determined a net increase (Wold Bank

2003; ILO 2010), although the period of 2001-2005 was about as difficult.

The data presented provide a global picture of the situation. It is important to note that these

values are much higher for Western industrialized countries, especially in Europe. There has been

a great increase at an average European level, up to 18,1% in 2010 with some peaks in those

countries most hardly touched by the economic and financial crisis: Greece (42%), Spain (46%),

Ireland (31,9 %), Portugal and Italy (both over 25%). In other European countries the situation

appears less dramatic but nevertheless the youth unemployment rate is very high as is the case of

France, Sweden or Finland for instance. In some countries such as France, youth are not

traditionally very present in employment and thus do not necessarily present themselves on the

labour market and are not counted as unemployed, so the data has to be considered taking all

these variations into account.

Despite the fact that, some other countries such as Belgium, Germany, Austria9 and Luxembourg,

registered on the contrary a decrease of the youth unemployment rate (which may be explained

8 Cited in “The Youth employment crisis: Time for action” (ILO 2012)

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by their integration into apprenticeship schemes as in Germany), the general situation of

industrialized and in particular European countries remains quite critical.

As far as North America is concerned the situation seems to be less difficult compared to most

European countries and there also some differences between the US and Canada.

According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics data, youth unemployment10

was 4.1 million in July

201111

and decreased from the 4,4 million of 2010, passing from 19,1 to 18,1 % in the US.

As we will observe later on, the unemployment rate changes depending on the characteristics of

the individuals involved: “among major demographic groups, unemployment rates were lower

than a year earlier for young men (18.3 percent) and Asians (15.3 percent), while jobless rates

were little changed for young women (17.8 percent), whites (15.9 percent), blacks (31.0 percent),

and Hispanics (20.1 percent)” 12

.

Canadian Labor force between 15 – 24 years old – Seasonally adjusted

Source Labor Force Information Canada – March 2011

9 Please see the 2012 ILO Report: The Youth Employment Crisis: Time for action.

10 In the case of the US, youth refers to people between 16 and 24 years old.

11 However, taking into consideration the characteristics of the US labour market it is important to notice

that the fact of considering the month of July and the summer may contribute to the increase of the

participation rate, since: “During these months, large numbers of high school and college students search

for or take summer jobs, and many graduates enter the labor market to look for or begin permanent

employment” (BLS Economic News Release 2011).

12 BLS Economic News Release 2011: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/youth.nr0.htm

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Source: Statistics Canada. Labour force survey estimates (LFS), supplementary unemployment rates by sex and age

group, annual (Table CANSIM 282-0086). Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2012

As we can observe, despite the fact that youth unemployment in Canada is lower compared to the

European average and the US, youth is the age group which is still mostly concerned by the

employment crisis. If we compared for instance youth unemployment with the adult population

(25-54) the rate is almost double. In addition, as we will observe in the next section dealing with

the position in the labour market, we know that in Canada, as in most other countries, young

people often occupy the most vulnerable and precarious position in the labour market and are also

segmented in less paying and less protected sectors, such as services (Fournier and Bourassa

2000; Tremblay 2004).

When dealing with youth unemployment, it is important to consider those young people who are

neither enrolled in school nor employed and that are defined as “NEET” (“Not in Employment,

Education or Training). Considering the objectives of this article, this population is very

important and it is the one experiencing the highest risk of labour market and social exclusion and

for this reason it also represents the focus of the “Entreprises d`insertion”, who target those

individuals who are most detached and far from the labor market.

According to Statistics Canada (201213

), in 2011 some 13% of young people between 15 and 29

years old did not attend school nor had a job. This represents 904,000 young people classified as

NEET: 391,000 were looking for a job while 513,000 were not. The other part of the 15-29 years

old in Canada, some 87%, were equally split into those at school and those at work. The long-

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http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/120523/dq120523b-eng.pdf

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term unemployed among youth in Canada represented 1% of all youth and 14% of all

unemployed youth: the lowest proportion of long-term unemployed young people among the G7

nations, as for the general NEET proportion.

An important element confirming age as a decisive risk profile is the fact that young people

between 15 and 24 years olds (in particular men) were more at risk of unemployment compared

to the 25-29 (Statistic Canada 2012).

The NEET concept is very important for Europe as well and has been indeed conceptualized in

particular in the UK during the 80’s, before being produced annually by the OECD.

However, differently from Canada, it generally includes young people between 15 and 24 years

old.

NEET Rates in Europe; Source EUROFOUND 201116

NEET youth 2007-2010 in some OECD countries17

16 Young people and NEETs in Europe: First findings

(http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2011/72/en/1/EF1172EN.pdf) 17

Source: OECD Employment policies and data 2012

(http://www.oecd.org/employment/employmentpoliciesanddata/50304960.pdf)

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The NEET youth in the all EU is of about 7.5 million people, equal to 12.8 % in 2010 with an

increase of 2 percentage points from 2008 (ILO 2012).

The NEET rate in different countries generally follows the unemployment trends. We therefore

observe the highest rates in Ireland, Italy, Spain, Greece and Eastern Europe (Bulgaria and

Romania).

Based on the 2008 European Values Survey, a EUROFOUND research on the European NEET

population (2011) investigated the potential risk factors for individuals and reported the main

factors:

- Disabilities (disabled individuals have 40% more risks to become part of the NEET

population)

- Immigration (immigrant or immigrant origin people have 70% more risks)

- Low education (low educated individuals are three times more likely to become NEET

compared to those with tertiary education)

- Low household income

- Parents who experienced unemployment

- Parents’ low education

- Divorced parents

- People living in remote areas

Although it is important to keep in mind all these potential risk factors, we should pay attention

not to consider this population as just one homogeneous group (EUROFOUND 2011). We can

find indeed at the same time people with high and low education, different social backgrounds,

long term or short term NEET, etc.

To conclude on youth unemployment, it is clear, as we argued, that this situation may represent

an evident generational waste, in terms of capabilities and skills (since unemployment also

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concern educated young people). At the same time it poses problems of increasing inequalities

among generations as also within the same cohort. In addition, there is an important cost of long-

term unemployment: “According to one estimate, in 2008 the cost of long-term unemployment or

inactivity among young people in EU Member States for which data was available amounted to

the equivalent of 1.1 per cent of GDP (ILO 2012 p. 19). It is in this perspective that we will look

at the local initiatives of “Entreprise d`insertion” in Quebec, as a common investment of the State

and local communities to reduce unemployment and its social and economic costs.

Avoiding the waste of a generation and social group: the case of the “Entreprises d’

insertion” in Quebec

The aim of the following sections is to present and explain the reality of the “Enterprises

d`insertion” in Quebec, as an important initiative of socio-professional integration for young

people with vulnerable socio-economic profiles: in order to avoid those phenomena that we have

defined as “generational waste”.

After a quick overview on European WISEs and on the major differences and similarities, we will

explain their mission, work and main target. In order to achieve this objective, we will mobilise

part of our empirical data: some of the results of interviews with more than fifty young people

working in these companies as interns, as well as with ten company managers.

Methodology

In this article we try to take into account a double perspective: the point of view of the

“Entreprises d`insertion”, perceived as an institution having at the same time an economic and a

social task, as well as that of individuals, having their own personal story, trajectory and making

their own experience of socio-professional integration.

When using in-depth interviews with managers, we wanted to understand their daily management

experiences, practices, difficulties and strategies to achieve a double objective: economic

performance and attainment of their social mission (socio-professional integration).

In so doing, we adopted the perspective of organisational ethnography (Schwartzman 1992)

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considering it an important tool to give “insightful descriptions and presenting phenomena in new

and revealing ways» (Hammersley: 1992, p. 13).

A fundamental concept that is often mobilized in ethnographic approaches applied to

organizations is culture and in particular the culture of business and organisations.

“About culture, we can say that it is both rational and irrational; has formal and informal sides;

has both a statically conservative and a highly dynamic and process-driven character; is used

strategically and has a highly emotional and irrational charge; provides clarity by offering

standard rules and solutions while remaining opaque; reflects unity, diversity and ambiguity; is

homogeneous as well as heterogeneous”(Koot and Boessenkool, 1994, p.56).

In order to study culture, we must assume the perspective and rationale of the actor and

understand how he makes sense of the mission and events that happen within the organization

(Koot and Boessenkool, 1994, p.60).

Another key aspect related to the concept of culture is that of the values. In this article our

starting point will be the mission and daily life of the “Entreprises d`insertion”. In fact, they have

been created around specific ideals and a clearly defined mission: social inclusion and socio-

professional integration.

At the same time, through the qualitative approach of in-depth interviews, we will analyse the

trajectories and experiences of young people, before and during the period of socio-professional

integration. This will allow us to better frame and describe these organizations. Although our

objective is not to evaluate this tools but simply to give an insight description and show in details

how it works and why we could define it as a “best practice”.

From this perspective we opted again for a qualitative and ethnographic approach, since it works

best on the basis of individual experiences and can capture the true essence and living experience

of social reality (Dal Lago, De Biasi 2002). In particular, social and professional exclusion, as

also the process of socio-professional integration itself is far from being smooth and can be quite

difficult for the individual, bringing into action several factors (social background, personal,

social, educational and professional status etc.).

This is the reason why we believe that our qualitative approach is the best in order to better

understand the individual and the organizational views.

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WISEs in a comparative perspective

As we mentioned, the WISEs/Entreprises d`insertion are not something new for Europe. They

have indeed been first created during the eighties in Belgium, France and the UK and have

recently become an issue in the European debate about high unemployment (Davister, Defourny,

Gregoire 2011).

As we will observe in this and in the next section, the WISEs of Quebec seem to be in some way

different compared to the European ones. However, showing the best practice of the WISEs in

Quebec, our objective is not to argue that they are better or more efficient than the European

ones. Our aim is rather to observe how the WISEs can represent a good and useful tool to fight

against youth unemployment and more generally to avoid what has been defined as the

“generational waste” as they have apparently contributed to a better integration of youth into the

labour market in Quebec, although macro-economic factors also come into play. We also need to

stress the variability of contexts and the importance of path dependency, ie. how similar

initiatives can take different forms, and have different impacts, depending on the historical,

institutional19

and social frame .

Both in Europe and Quebec the WISEs are part of the social economy or third sector economy as

often called in Belgium and France (“tiers secteur”) and are initiatives aiming at socio-

professional integration. In Europe as in Quebec the WISEs are autonomous economic actors,

with a task of socio-professional integration, which is attained through a real activity of

production, individual support and professional/vocational education.

Differently from Quebec, where there are also a good number of companies working in the new

technology and other advanced sectors, most of the European WISEs are in the manual labor

market, in areas such as construction, carpentry, sorting and recycling, gardening and

manufacture (Davister, Defourny, Gregoire 2011). From this point of view, we could consider the

“Entreprises d’insertion” of Quebec, as a good option for socio-professional integration

programs, as they target a vulnerable youth population but try to avoid the reproduction of

segmentation in the labor market by confining them in traditional low paid occupations.

Before going into the details and providing a quick overview of the WISEs in Europe, it is

important to mention that talking generally about European WISEs is not an easy task, since, as

we mentioned, in various countries there might be significant differences and peculiarities.

Therefore, our objective here is simply to providing a general frame of the situation, based on the

specialised literature (Eme, Gardin 2002; Spear and Bidet 2003; Borzaga and Defourny).

19

Such as for example the importance that local communities have had in the development of social

economy and in particular of the WISEs in Quebec.

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In a research report on the WISEs in ten different European countries (Davister, Defourny,

Gregoire 2011) thirty nine different categories have been counted, based on various criteria. In

order to introduce an elmeent of comparison between the generality of European WISEs and

those of Quebec, we will essentially take into consideration the modalities of integration and in so

doing, we will also introduce other elements such as the typology and characteristics of workers,

the type of contract and the role and terms of public supports.

The first type has been defined as “Transitional Jobs WISEs”. As the above mentioned report

underlines, the focus here is about the difference existing between a real employment/work and

jobs as something more transitional.

The objective of this type of WISE is to provide to all participants a job experience or training, in

order to enable a successful integration in the real labor market. This includes people with an

internship or fixed-term contract. This is the case for instance of the «Entreprises de Formation

par le Travail » in Belgium (Nyssens, Grégoire 2002) or the WISE in Portugal (Perista, Nogueira

2004) whose objective is to provide people with social and professional tools to improve their

skills and increase their opportunities and employability in the labour market.

Similar activities are also offered by the WISEs in Quebec. As we will observe in the next

sections, these activities are a fundamental and well integrated part of their professional

integration program. However, the aim of the “Entreprises d`insertion”, as the one of Emploi

Quebec, financing the workers' participation, is to provide real working experiences; something

which makes the difference in Quebec between the WISEs and other forms of local community

initiatives (centres communautaires).

A second type of WISE in Europe aims at the creation of permanent self-funded jobs. Their aim

is to create stable and real employment opportunities in the short-medium term for a population

which is excluded and extremely vulnerable in the labour market.

In the beginning public subsidies are granted to compensate the workers’ lack of productivity,

while after that, the company should earn profit and be self-subsistent. From this perspective

workers remain the same and therefore, compared to the WISEs of Quebec, offering a 26 weeks

experience, this second typology of WISE has a rather limited target: those workers who have

been included in the program from the beginning and a more restricted number of people who

may join the company later.

This form of socio-professional integration can be found in the case of the French “Entreprises

Insérantes” or the Social Firms in Germany and the UK, providing the participants stable job

opportunities, but less socio-psychological or larger support, centering rather on the task.

On the contrary, in the case of Quebec the objective is not simply to stabilise the employment in a

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WISE (although some companies can freely decide to hire some of their interns). Their focus

seems to be rather on the process of socio-professional integration of the workers: on their

difficulties and problems, in order to provide them with the right tools to overcome a negative

situation; and finally make them closer and compatible to the values and needs of the labor

market and offer them a possibly better employment trajectory precisely because of this

supplementary support offered to them.

Unlike this second typology of WISE, public support in Quebec is constant. However, it takes the

form of an agreement (to be renewed each year) between the “Entreprise d’insertion” and the

State, through Emploi Quebec (Labour Dept). In this perspective, we can once again observe that

the focus is not on the WISE itself, but rather on the participants. In fact, Emploi Quebec finances

the participation of workers/interns, covering the total costs of the socio-professional integration

program (wages of interns, educators, social and psychological professionals etc.20

). The

businesses and economic activity including the wages of regular workers should however be

completely autonomous and self-standing.

An element which makes the difference and underlines the centrality of the intern is the fact that

participants are not only considered as workers but also as clients of the WISE, since they are the

“users” of a public service (socio-professional integration) supported by the State.

A third typology of European WISE, targets people with disabilities as also other individuals

experiencing strong social disadvantages. For example, through a significant public support the

“Entreprises de Travail Adapté” offer participation in various productive activities to physically

and mentally disable workers. On the contrary, the majority of WISEs in Quebec do not

specifically target people with disabilities, but more generally individuals with a socially

vulnerable profile and in many cases (depending on the target and mission chosen by the

company) the target is rather young, which marks a difference with most European WISEs. In

addition, although these young people usually have a significantly vulnerable profile and often

cumulate different problems, as we will observe in one of the following sections, participants

must still be functional at work and be compatible with social life.

The last typology is composed by those WISEs providing "Socialization through productive

activity" (Davister, Defourny, Gregoire 2011). The objective of these companies is not a

professional integration in the regular labour market, rather a (re) socialization of the participants.

The activity is considered as "semi-informal" and does not provide an official contract or status.

The participants are mainly alcoholics, drug addicts or people with criminal records, serious

physical or mental disabilities.

20

http://www.collectif.qc.ca/

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On the contrary in Quebec, as we will observe in one of the next sections, the focus is also on the

socialization of young people having possibly such characteristics; the WISEs should always try

to find a balance between their three main activities: social inclusion, professional and vocational

training and production. The element of production is one of the key and cannot be neglected: the

“Entreprises d’insertion” should offer a true working experience in the labour market, although it

can be adjusted to the individual needs of each participant, through a personalised follow up.

As the research on European WISEs has underlined (Davister, Defourny, Gregoire 2011)

although the majority of WISEs (26 of 39 categories) mainly focus on one of the four described

typologies, others may combine different models within the same company. Something also

happening in the case of Quebec, which had the opportunity to learn from the first European

experiences, created during the seventies and eighties, in order to propose its own "hybrid"

model, best adapted to its socio-institutional context.

In Europe, the most common combination is for example the one putting together a presence of

transitional jobs with permanent self-funded employment. This is for example the case of the

Italian “Cooperative sociali di tipo b” or the “Régies de Quartier” in France. In the case of the

"Entreprises d’insertion" in Quebec, this choice for the company remains possible but it is not

statutorily regulated. This underlines once again a significant difference with Europe: in Quebec

the focus seems to be more on socio-professional integration as a process and not simply on the

creation of employment, as it appears to be the case for European WISEs. This last objective

becomes however often viable, as the consequence of a positive path and a constant follow up,

lasting two years after the experience in the “Entreprise d’insertion” and having a double aim:

social integration (through a professional socio-psychological support, encouraging in most cases

a return to school and education) and professional inclusion through assistance and support in job

search.

To conclude this comparative overview: an element marking the difference between Quebec and

most European WISEs is the constant, simultaneous presence of three important components:

social integration, professional integration and employability and a real working experience,

under the form of internship. A working experience which is recognized in Quebec through a real

(minimum) wage and not just a simple reimbursement, as it is often the case in Europe. A salary

that even in symbolic terms represents a key element, becoming much more than an economic

reward but perceived as a first important achievement towards social and professional integration.

The mission of the “Entreprises d`insertion” between discourse and daily practice

18

Although WISE’s managers in Quebec always take into account all the three main areas of their

business (social, professional integration and production), the social integration often seems to

have a primary role in their discourse. At the same time, it becomes more and more evident in the

evolution of the discourse that the fundamental challenge is to find a balance between these

various aspects.

«Une entreprise d’insertion il faut savoir la définir. Il y a trois volets à respecter. Le premier est

celui de l’intégration et de l’insertion sociale. Le deuxième c’est la formation professionnelle et

le troisième c’est la production… Donc on n’est pas un centre communautaire, mais on le fait. Il

faut le faire et le réussir. On n’est pas une école, mais on le fait et il faut le réussir, on n’est pas

un privé, mais on doit le réussir. C’est l’entreprise d’insertion. Si tu n’arrives pas à gérer un de

ces trois volets ensemble et au même niveau, tu ne peux pas réussir la mission de l’entreprise

d’insertion. C’est la base. Mais bien entendu, tout ce qu’on fait, même la production, est pour

notre mission, qui est d’aider les gens à intégrer la société ». (Petites Mains – Operational

Director)

Every one of the “Entreprises d`insertion” can find its own balance in several ways. As for

example through a "modulated" and limited business development, which represents the major

difference they identify between themselves and traditional market, and in most cases through a

constant socio-psychological intervention: taking place before, during and after the professional

experience.

«Ces activités coexistent en même temps dans l’entreprise. Mais notre activité de production est

au service de notre mission de formation et on la met en avant. On n’a pas la volonté et une

stratégie de développement qui pourrait augmenter de façon importante notre chiffre d’affaire et

qui pourrait mettre en difficulté nos capacités à accueillir des gens en formation». (Imprime

Emploi - Director)

And again:

« Comparativement aux autres entreprises privées, je te dirais qu’on a les mêmes impératifs au

niveau financier et au niveau performance de l’entreprise. Pour maintenir la formation que l’on

offre, il faut que l’entreprise soit rentable. Une des différences avec l’entreprise privée et que

notre finalité n’est pas d’engranger un maximum de profit pour les besoins personnels.» (Buffet

Insert Jeunes – Director)

19

What distinguishes the “Entreprises d`insertion” from the traditional market is the mission.

Private companies are centered on profit and can therefore develop without limits (at least in

theory) their business volume. On the contrary, the “entreprises d`insertion” must combine the

economic and the social performance, the latter being perceived as their first mission, taking into

account the characteristics of their workers: «Pour arriver au même niveau qu’une entreprise

privée du même service, j’ai besoin de beaucoup plus de staff, car ici on commence tout le temps

avec des jeunes qui partent de zéro. Donc il y a toute la partie du travail à leur apprendre ».

(Buffet Insert Jeunes – Director)

The costs of socio-professional integration - including the wages of interns, those of professional

educators and all the activities and follow up during and after the internship are supported by

Emploi Québec, a provincial governmental body, which is the equivalent of the »Labour

Department. At the same time, it is important to remember that these funds are based on estimates

and therefore costs can, in the daily practice, be even higher.

The complexity of certain activities is also what makes the difference among these companies.

Some of them are active in more traditional areas, such as manufacturing, recycling, restaurants

and cleaning, while others are on the contrary more specialized, such as for example in the

computer, digital printing, and audiovisual industry. As we will observe, the richness of profiles

and sectors is one of the peculiarities of the “Entreprises d’ Insertion” in Quebec, compared for

example to most European WISEs. This also informs us on a strategic labor market choice at the

local community and also governmental level (through the agreements and State support).

Enlarging these companies’ field of action and their programs of socio-professional integration to

more professional and specialized areas may also have a role in the regulation of the labor

market, in particular decreasing “segmentation” and allowing working class groups, and (in many

cases) population of immigrant origin the access to a better quality labor market.

« Au départ on s’était lancés dans une activité économique où il n’y avait pas vraiment de

précédents. On ne savait pas comment faire. Plusieurs nous ont déconseillé ce choix, en disant

qu’il s’agissait d’une activité beaucoup trop complexe pour ce public.

Tout le monde, c’était un consensus. On s’est entêtés, mais même nous, on n’avait pas une idée

très claire de ce que les jeunes pourraient faire. Il y a beaucoup de choses qu’on ne faisait pas au

départ et que l’on fait maintenant. Ils font de la réparation de moniteurs, sans soucis aucuns, on

n’a jamais eu d’accidents. Nous avons compris que si tu montes un bon programme, si tu le

structures, si tu es clair au niveau des consignes, ils peuvent le faire. Si je compare à d’autres

20

entreprises d’insertion où l’activité en elle-même est plus simple, où ils font un catalogue, nous

avons une activité qui évolue constamment, alors nous n’avons pas de catalogue qui sera valide

pour un ou deux ans. ». (Insertech – Director)

Of course, each activity has its own challenges working with inexperienced workers, having not

only professional but also social difficulties. This is why the socio-psychological intervention is

part of the program and should always be integrated to the economic and professional objectives.

For this reason, another characteristic of these companies, which is linked to their nature and

mission, is the double concept of customer. They have to serve two clients: the worker taking part

in the integration process thanks to the agreements between Emploi Québec and the WISEs, as

also the businesses client, who buys their products, services and allows the economic

sustainability of the company.

The profile of workers

The people taking part in the programs of socio-professional integration in the “Entreprises d’

insertion” need to have an official approval by “Emploi Quebec” who should acknowledge their

real need. At the same time, as we argued, the WISEs can also refuse some participants. They

generally experience great difficulty integrating the labor market, as also at a personal and social

level. In most cases these workers are young people between 18 and 30, men and women with

several vulnerabilities such as low income families, immigration, mental health issues, etc. In this

perspective, it is important to consider the phenomenon of social exclusion as a multidimensional

phenomenon (Townsend 1979).

They have difficulties related to the characteristics of the family and social background: in many

cases (but not all) have immigrant origins, with low-income parents and often single parent

households.

They have generally cumulated several experiences of failure: at school (a majority did not

graduate from high school), and also difficulties in labor market integration etc. Their profile is

considered as distant from the labor market (“éloigné du marché du travail”) due to different

variables: the influence of the family background, the low educational level and other individual

characteristics. A very important variable is health, particularly mental health, but also other

problems related to the use of drugs, alcohol and other dependencies including those related to

video games and gambling.

21

In addition, some of them may also have criminal records, due to some experiences, usually

small forms of crime, which may have developed either in the family (brothers, cousins etc.) or in

the peer group at the neighborhood level, contributing to determine social and professional

exclusion.

The neighborhood is a significant variable. First of all because most of the WISE’s in Quebec

developed at a local community level in working class areas; secondly, because it is in these

neighborhoods that we observe a concentration of socio-professional exclusion, concerning

specifically young people.

Despite the fact of being complicated to analyze, and sometimes controversial from an

epistemological point of view, the neighborhood effect is a very important element in the

structuring of the characteristics of this population (Alberio 2011). In this article we cannot

explore this issue, but the fact that many of these young people (immigrant or not) live in

neighborhoods with homogeneous social and economic characteristics, remains a decisive

element.

Another important issue is the institutional structure. In a study on different European local

systems of social protection, Kazepov (and al.1997) noted how, following a model of path

dependency (Polanyi 1949) the specificity of institutions (labor market, State and family),

traditions, familiar networks and the local socio-demographic situation may have a fundamental

role in the structuring and development of phenomena of social exclusion.

It is in this perspective, that we can once again set the example of the “Entreprises d’insertion” as

a local and national response to the phenomenon of the socio-professional exclusion of youth,

with a rather multidimensional approach (social and economic support and integration), while

European initiatives tend to be more mono dimensional and centered usually somewhat more on

work integration.

A decisive variable making a difference in the structuring of the profile and vulnerability of each

participant is age. We must mention that some companies receive a very young population, from

16 to 25 years old, while the majority has an older target (18-30) and just few of them receive

people aged over 35, in particular immigrant women, having therefore very different needs and

difficulties, often related to their parenthood situation, often being lone mothers.

To conclude this section: we should remind that an element which is the key to the success of

socio-professional integration in the “Entreprises d’insertion” of Quebec is the coordination of all

22

the three main tasks: professional integration and education, real economic experience to provide

credentials to be spent in the “real” labor market and a constant socio-psycological support.

From this point of view, all the elements of the “Entreprises d’insertion” are decisive in order to

assure this coordination. In the same way, workers having different functions in the WISE often

become an integral part of this project. Many companies share their mission with all employees,

including those who do not work directly with interns. There are meetings (on general topics)

open to secretaries, as well as managers or social workers. In these companies everyone relates to

the interns and should therefore be able understand their specificities and needs.

On the contrary, in other companies the relationship with interns is something limited to

specialized educators and psycho-social operators. All workers without an educational or training

function are therefore excluded from most processes, although they have to be committed and

respect the basic values of an “Entreprise d’insertion”.

In any case, there is always a strong respect of the privacy of each invidual taking part in the

program: « Ce qui touche les aspects plus personnels ou psychosociaux n’est pas transmis à

l’équipe. C’est dans le domaine de la confidentialité. Les seules trois personnes ici qui ont accès

à la vie personnelle des jeunes c’est l’intervenant, la conseillère en emploi et moi » (Buffet Insert

Jeunes–Director).

The individual experience

There are at least two ways through which an individual can arrive to a WISE in Quebec.

One may be through Emploi Quebec, which evaluates the needs of a participant and proposes the

hiring (through a contract of internship at a minimum wage) to one or more WISEs. At the same

time, a first selection can also be made by the WISE itself. In this case the formal approval of

Emploi Quebec is necessary to verify the real needs of the individual and the potential benefits to

take part in the program21

.

« On a les deux, Emploi Québec travaille avec des gens qui sont sur la sécurité du revenu et

l’assurance emploi. À partir de là ils connaissent notre réseau et quand ils voient que quelqu’un

a un certain intérêt ils vont nous référer un candidat. Ce n’est pas la majorité qui est référée par

Emploi Québec, mais on n’a pas de problèmes de recrutement. » (Formétal – Director).

In general, most managers, even when their company is responsible for the first selection, due to

21

Source : Collectif des entreprises d'insertion du Québec (CEIQ) : http://www.collectif.qc.ca

23

the fact that many young people arrive through a “word of mouth”, do not have the same criteria

as a traditional private company. Their selection process reflects the main mission of the WISE.

The choice cannot be focused on the skills, rather on individual needs and generally takes into

account the real benefit of the participant.

Once again, we see how the WISE of Quebec emphasizes first of all the role and integration of a

participant; despite the fact that they have also an important task of production and economic

self-sustainability. It is significant to note that unlike traditional companies, a CV is not required

during the selection process. They begin with a group presentation on their activities and values,

followed by individual interviews, conducted by a socio-psychological professional, in order to

estimate the profile and needs of the candidate.

For all companies the basic criteria is the individual motivation to start and successfully conclude

their experience of socio-professional integration and to measure it, they implement specific

strategies:

« On fait une sorte de pré parcours, même avant la période de probation22

. Des fois, pour tester

la motivation, ça peut être aussi : ‘les deux prochains jours tu vas arriver à 7 h 30 juste pour que

je voie que tu es capable d’arriver à 7 h 30. Ça nous démontre la capacité de cette personne de

se prendre en main et sa motivation aussi. On part de l’idée que si on accepte un jeune ici c’est

parce qu’on sait qu’on va lui faire vivre une réussite et non un échec.» (Ateliers d’Antoine –

Managing Director).

The main objective of the WISEs is the success of the experience of socio-professional

integration. This success becomes the key concept, since their mission is to allow socio-

professional integration thanks to a first successful experience, able to “produce” other positive

events.

For this reason, even if managers say they select the most vulnerable profiles, the criteria of

functionality should still be present. The person should fit the social context and at the same time

be able to adapt and integrate all the three areas of intervention, including production (although

this is done gradually and under a constant monitoring from both a technical/vocational and a

socio-psychological point of view).

« Ce qu’on va regarder au niveau du recrutement est si la personne a besoin de faire un parcours

d’insertion, elle a besoin de ce qu’on lui propose, elle a la capacité de faire une démarche

d’apprentissage. La capacité physique et psychologique. Mais c’est une évaluation qui est très

22

Most companies have a probationary period, where it is still possible to end the program without

compromising the possibility of another future experience in the same or another company. In some cases

the WISE can also refuse the participant if they estimate that he is not ready yet for this experience. This

happens for example in case of strong dependencies, strong invalidating illness (including mental illness).

24

sommaire, il y a des choses qui nous échappent (..). On rencontre des gens éloignés du marché du

travail, mais il faut qu’ils aient la capacité de suivre une formation, d’apprendre ce qu’on peut

leur proposer et d’avancer. Il y a des personnes qui ont besoin d’un apprentissage ‘one to one’,

ils vont avoir besoin de recevoir une formation où on va travailler avec eux de façon individuelle,

du matin au soir. On n’est pas capable de faire ça ici. Nous avons une mission et des

compétences d’accompagnement, d’aide et de soutien mais nous ne sommes pas un lieu

thérapeutique. Nous n’hésitons à proposer à la personne, selon ses besoins, à aller vers des

ressources appropriées». (Imprime Emploi – Managing Director)

As we have mentioned, one of the most important variables to be accepted in a program is the

individual motivation, rather than the experience or professional skills. Therefore, participation

should be on a voluntary basis. Despite this, in some cases people can be “encouraged” to the

take part in such programs by institutions such as Emploi Quebec itself or a judge and tribunals.

In case of a criminal record the experience in a WISE can indeed be seen as a process of social

rehabilitation.

«Maintenant je suis là parce que j’avais besoin de stimulant dans le genre, j’avais des comptes à

rendre à certaines personnes et prouver que j’étais capable de faire un truc bien. À ma mère,

mon agent de probation et mes amis». (Man, 18 years old, Haitian origin).

On the basis of the personal experience that an individual can have in a WISE, it is about

providing some experiences as well as a “set of possibilities” and inspirations. This is the reason

why, especially at the beginning, the participant may be not completely aware of the objectives of

the programs, nor of his/her ambitions and professional preferences (Alberio, Tremblay 2012).

« Je n’ai pas de rêve, je n’ai pas d’objectif d’accomplissement de travail. Il est tôt, je ne pourrais

pas prendre une décision ‘live’ de ce que je ferai pour le restant de mes jours. Je suis ici pour

m`encadrer et arrêter avec mes conneries ». (Man, 18 years old, Haitian origin)

Some young people may attend a special program called “Intégration”, lasting one month before

their entrance in a WISE. It is organized and handled by the “Collectif des Entreprises d’Insertion

du Quebec” and targets those people who experience even more difficulties than the average:

«On se voit chaque jour pour s’améliorer et prendre une routine de travail en se levant tôt. Ils

nous paient pour venir ici et faire des sorties, ils nous apprennent beaucoup de choses sur nous-

mêmes. On parle avec l`intervenant et il nous aide à être bien avec nous-même ». (Man, 20 years

old, Haitian origin).

As we have observed in the course of our research, the experience of socio-professional

integration can be long and may require time and several steps. It is common that a person takes

part in more than one program of socio-professional integration in different WISEs and this is not

25

considered by all the actors involved - Emploi Quebec (State), managers of the WISEs, social

operators and the interns themselves – as a negative event, waste or failure. On the contrary, it

allows the individual to progress over time. If he or she is able to continue the program until the

end and even start a second or third experience of socio-professional integration, it means that the

person might be “ready” to integrate the labour market very soon after this, and be better prepared

for this. Another option is to improve and complete the social integration path, through a return to

education, having thus more chances to succeed, thanks to the experience, commitment, and all

other personal and social tools acquired in the WISE.

«En étant dans un autre projet auparavant: Jeunes en Action, j’ai découvert que c’est tout ce qui

touchait les arts qui m’intéressait, de la coiffure, de la pâtisserie, de l’aménagement paysager

j’ai tout adoré ça. Tout de la création. Fait qu’on a vu et le multimédia m’intéressait beaucoup

vu que j’avais fait du dessin et j’adore faire de l’infographie. Donc ils m’ont proposé X qui est un

programme de réinsertion. Ça m’intéressait au bout, c’était magnifique les projets. Je suis

retournée voir la madame et ils ont signé mes papiers pour 9 mois. Après X je suis venue ici faire

un autre programme d`insertion » (Girl, 20 years old, Canadian origin).

Conclusion

In this article we started from a general problem, the exclusion and precarious situation of young

people in most countries, dealing in particular with Europe, the US and Canada. The objective has

been here to show how, despite different forms, volumes and economic and labor market

situations, there is in most countries an important generational issue, taking the form of a global

challenge in order to avoid what could be defined as a “generational waste”.

Of course, as we argued, we should also keep into account other important variables, such as

individual characteristics (in order to not consider the youth as a completely homogenous group),

the institutional and local contexts etc. It is indeed in this perspective that we analyzed the WISEs

as a mixed initiative (local community and public support) and response: active at the local

territorial level but having also a potential impact on the general labor market situation.

In particular, we focused on the WISEs of Quebec, as a good example and possible “best

practice”. Having been first created in some European contexts, we presented the main

characteristics of European WISEs, according to the literature, trying to underline similarities,

differences and some interesting peculiarities of the “Entreprises d’insertion” of Quebec, that as

we argued, have also re-interpreted some European experiences, proposing their own model,

adapting it to the specific Québec socio-political, institutional and economic context.

26

We have presented an overview of the difficulties facing youth in Québec/Canada and Europe.

The present situation sees Quebec in a rather favorable position in comparison to Europe, in terms

of unemployment and youth unemployment as well; although it remains higher than adult

unemployment, it was much higher in the 80’s crisis and it is today far from that observed in

Europe, France, Italy, Greece and Spain in particular. Over the years, and particularly in a

context of high unemployment in Europe as in the Americas, States have tried to develop modes

of intervention to try to favor integration of youth in the labor market, and in Europe as in

Quebec, this has taken the form of WISE, amongst other interventions.

In the case of Quebec WISE, we observed that they are institutional actors having a double

mission: the socio-professional integration and a real economic activity in the labor market. We

started from an internal institutional perspective, presenting also the point of view of managers,

their objectives, achievements and difficulties.

At the same time, remaining on a micro perspective but focusing on the individuals, we looked at

the effects of socio-professional integration as a process, highlighting, from a qualitative

perspective, the impact that the WISEs and their programs can have on the life, experiences and

working trajectories of young people with significant socially disadvantaged characteristics.

In the context of Quebec, the peculiarity may be the very strong presence and activism of the

social economy sector, which has been well recognized by the State since a large national summit

on employment in 1996 after years of activism and concertation building (Tremblay, 1994),

which gave the social economy sector much legitimacy and increased the State’s support to it

various activities, including WISE (Tremblay, Klein, Fontan, 2009).

While the mode of intervention of WISE may seem similar in both zones, it appears to us that in

Quebec the focus seems to be more on socio-professional integration as a process and not only on

the job creation, as it appears to be the case for European WISEs. However, this last objective

becomes viable, on a more long term perspective, as the consequence of a positive path and a

constant follow up, lasting two years after the experience in the “Entreprise d’insertion” and

having a double aim: social integration (through a professional socio-psychological support,

encouraging in most cases a return to school and education) and professional inclusion through

assistance and support in job search.

To conclude our comparative analysis, we can say that the possibly major element making the

difference between Quebec and most European WISEs is the constant, simultaneous presence of

the three above-mentioned components: social integration, professional integration and

employability and a real working experience, under the form of internship. This working

experience is recognized in Quebec by paying a real (minimum) wage and not just a simple

27

allocation, as it is often the case in Europe. The salary is important for these young people in

symbolic terms and not only for the money it represents as it is a key element, being perceived

not only as pay for the work done, but more importantly as a first important achievement towards

social and professional integration.

In this perspective, it appears that the professional integration and education, the very real

working experience to provide credentials to be spent in the “real” labor market and the constant

socio-psychological support are the source of success of the Quebec WISE. Although apparently

less frequent, as the initiatives in Europe seem more specialized and specifically work-oriented,

some of them may however adopt this approach and it appears that this may be a possible

solution to ensure long term social and professional integration of youth. Given the very high

unemployment rates in many European countries presently, the most vulnerable youth will have

to compete with the more educated, and it will surely be important to offer them more support

and provide chances to integrate the labor market in such a difficult context.

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