Repairers desperately needed | The Press

At a time when the Legault government wants to guarantee the right to repair, classrooms to train technicians capable of repairing refrigerators, stoves or televisions are emptying in Quebec. Last year, just 144 students registered to become appliance repair or electronics technicians across the province.

Published on Sep 8, 2023

Of this number, spread across a handful of vocational education centers, just 45 students continued their studies until obtaining the vocational studies diploma (DEP). However, this know-how is essential to the implementation of Bill 29 to combat planned obsolescence.

There is only one establishment in all of Quebec offering a program entirely dedicated to the repair of household appliances. It is located in Montreal.

“It just doesn’t interest young people anymore. However, everything is fixed. We must stop throwing away, wanting something newer, more beautiful, more modern,” says François Lemire, director of the Saint-Antoine-de-Saint-Exupéry Professional Training Center (CFP), located in the district of Saint-Leonard.

In 2022, its establishment attached to the Pointe-de-l’Île school service center only had 25 registrations. Of this number, barely 14 students persevered until graduation, according to data obtained by The Press from the Ministry of Education.

“We are the last bastion of household appliances in Quebec. Our program dates from 1996, we have adjusted it over time, with the collaboration of household appliance manufacturers. For our fall cohort, we have 19 registrations so far. The average age is 35 years old, I even have one of 54 years old. Many are new arrivals to the country,” adds the leader.

In the context, several experts have difficulty seeing how the government will succeed in forcing manufacturers and sellers of household appliances to guarantee consumers a right to repair.

A “mess-up” in the community

GoRecycle is a non-profit organization (NPO) overseeing the recycling of refrigerators and household refrigerating appliances, with hundreds of drop-off points in Quebec. It also manages the take-back of old devices by department stores. Its director, Jules Foisy Lapointe, believes that it will be a “real mess” to apply the new law.

“There is a difference between the environmental wish, therefore virtue, and the practical wish,” says Jules Foisy Lapointe. There is a mess in the repair industry in Quebec. Very few repairers have skills cards. »

Alex Dupuis sells and repairs kitchen and laundry appliances. The owner of the Électrolibre brand, which has been located on Laurier Avenue in Montreal since 1976, says that he has already retained the services of a headhunter to find a technician.

“I was recommended three candidates, I selected only one. The salary is now $30 per hour. It’s a real mess, the bill that the government wants to put in place. We give powers to consumers without the possibility of repair. The first step would be to promote the profession among young people, particularly women. No more DEPs in construction, the future is in repairs. »

Jobs before the end of training

Réal Paquette is director of another professional training center, Léonard-De Vinci, in Saint-Laurent. The man is an old hand in electronics, passionate to the point of having pursued graduate university studies in the field.

Mr. Paquette’s team overhauled the “Electronics Repair and Service” program. He hopes to bring together a class of 22 students this year. The challenge will be to convince them to stay, says the manager, offering a tour of the facilities and laboratories.

“The demand is so high that they are offered jobs in the sector even before the end of the course. The average salary is $26 per hour. We are talking about training lasting around a year and a half, or 1800 hours. We try to convince students to stay by talking to them about possible advancement with a DEP, the possibility of going into business,” he explains.

Retirement income

Mohamed Ouhnana is a professor specializing in maintenance electronics at CFP Léonard-De Vinci. He retired in 2019. It only lasted six months. The establishment had no replacements, so he came back to teach. Electronics hold no secrets for him, he knows how to replace obsolete parts with just about anything. With his team, he teaches the maintenance and repair of electric bicycles, four-wheelers and golf carts. This is the future, he said.

“There is a logic of repair to be transmitted. The market needs are clear, but we are losing know-how. It’s unfortunate,” he said, opening the door to a room full of devices.

In another room, just next door, there is home automation repair: it’s a new program. You need access to repairers for programmable curtains, coffee makers, televisions, heating and connected security cameras. “Competent technicians are not common in the streets,” slips the old professor as he locks the door.