On March 29 and 30 the very first edition of the careers and training fair for electric and intelligent transportation, RDV En route, took place. These two days, entirely dedicated to raising awareness about this rapidly growing sector, brought together more than 400 participants and highlighted 250 positions currently to be filled and the training programs that lead to careers in EIT. More than 40 companies and educational institutions hosted the virtual fair, and 16 speakers and panelists who are EIT experts demystified this promising sector.
Many job seekers
This first event, which took place in a virtual format given the pandemic situation, brought together amajority of job-seeking candidates (47.4%) and workers (33%), mainly aged between 30 and 50. More than 400 participants submitted their CVs via the different companies’ virtual booths to apply for one of the 250 available positions. Several event participants came from themanagement (24%) and trades, transport and machinery (20%) sectors and hold a university degree.
Discovering the EIT sector
Representing $1.3B of Quebec’s GDP, electric and intelligent transportation (EIT) is currently in a phase of accelerated growth. Interestingly: in every electric vehicle around the world, there is at least one Quebec patent! By leveraging hydroelectricity, a clean energy, and its natural resources, Quebec has all the assets to become a global leader in electric and intelligent transportation.
With fascinating and atypical career paths, our panelists all shared a common desire in choosing to work in the EIT sector: to take part in change and combat climate change!
Exciting careers and challenges aligned with your values
“Values must be lived through the decisions we make every day,” says Marc-Antoine Ducas, CEO of Netlift. This innovative Quebec organization, specializing in shared-transport optimization, prioritizes gender parity and offers advancement opportunities to its employees. “At Immervision, it’s multicultural, we speak every language and everyone’s contribution is essential to innovation. Our motto isNever give up !” Pascale Nini, CEO of the company, added. David Arsenault, CEO of Effenco, hires people who have convictions and who share the organization’s environmental values. Teamwork and equality among all employees are priorities at Effenco. AddÉnergie’s CEO, Louis Tremblay, explained that the company’s three core values are teamwork, innovation through people, and long-term thinking. “Sky is just the beginning ! »
Horizon 2050 and workforce needs
Simon Pillarella, director of workforce and financing at Propulsion Québec, presented the sector profile of electric and intelligent transportation, Horizon 2050, as well as the various workforce needs over the coming years according tothe main occupational families.
Key information to remember:
3 EIT sub-sectors:
- Electrification of transportation
- Intelligent transport and new mobility solutions
- Maintenance of electric commercial fleets
3 major occupational families:
- Design and R&D
- Manufacturing and assembly
- Commercialization and services
More than 14,000 jobs are directly or indirectly related to the EIT sector, a rapidly growing industry! Future employees will have to be increasingly versatile to evolve in an emerging industry like ours, in evolving and stimulating positions.
For more information: consult theHorizon 2050 study
Sector profile of transportation electrification
Simon Pillarella, Director, Workforce & Financing at Propulsion Québec, and Stéphanie Castang, Director of Human Resources at Merkur Inc., painted a sectoral portrait of the electric and intelligent transportation sector.
Key information to remember:
- The shift to electric propulsion generates various engineering challenges, mainly everything related to the battery and mass optimization;
- Future technicians and engineers will need to acquire broader skills, a combination of mechanics, electrical, electronics and programming;
- Educational institutions need to integrate multiple areas of expertise into programs in order to train more versatile candidates adequately prepared for electric propulsion.
Among the priority professions that are currently in demand (and will be increasingly so in the coming years):
- Skilled workers
- Technicians
- Engineers
- Programming, IT, data and artificial intelligence
- Designer, developer, VI specialist
- Sales, service and management
Vision of Quebec’s role and its ambitions regarding transportation electrification
Our participants had the opportunity to hear panelists from The Lion Electric Company, Alstom, Dana and Nova Bus share their vision of Quebec’s role and its ambitions regarding transportation electrification.
Can Quebec really become the world leader in transportation electrification according to them?
“Absolutely,” the panelists answered unanimously. Quebec not only has the expertise, but also relies on world-class educational institutions to train a qualified workforce for the EIT sector. We must continue to develop innovations to get ahead and attract and train a workforce that will allow us to reach our goals.
Intelligent transport and new mobility solutions
What are the market needs? What capabilities are required to work in the EIT ecosystem? Simon Pillarella, Director, Workforce & Financing at Propulsion Québec, discussed with Marie-Pier Fortier, Vice-President, Human Resources at LeddarTech, to learn more about the needs of a company in the EIT sector.
Beyond the technical skills related to training, many non-technical skills are necessary to work in the electric and intelligent transport ecosystem:
- Proficiency in English, since Quebec companies collaborate with many international players;
- Strong adaptability to change, both in methodology and in the industry itself;
- Resilience.
Rather little-known positions and avenues are currently in increased demand:
- Microelectronics;
- Photonics applied to transportation;
- Artificial intelligence and software.
Intelligent transport: a major revolution... starting now!
We are seeing many advances in intelligent transport, particularly in the development of autonomous vehicles. How can we anticipate the future regarding its arrival? What are Quebec’s strengths and what new jobs does this emerging industry bring?
Panelists Frantz Saintellemy, President and Chief Operating Officer at LeddarTech, and Allan Benchetrit, CEO of Algolux, believe that the EIT sector is currently a window of opportunity and will evolve greatly over the coming years.
With government initiatives and coordination among the various organizations in the ecosystem, for the first time in the history of the transport industry it is no longer just a question of capacity — it is a question of technologies. Companies must therefore innovate and rethink their business models to be more collaborative.
Finally, the virtual fair and the networking between participants, companies and educational institutions allowed attendees to chat live and ask their questions to learn more about the training available to work in the EIT sector, as well as the different career opportunities andjobs to be filled.
Thank you to our participants and partners for contributing to the success of this event!
The implementation of the En route project was made possible thanks to the financial support of our partners: the Government of Quebec, Merkur inc., LeddarTech, BRP, Dana Incorporated, Dana TM4, Effenco, Nova Bus, AddÉnergie, BIXI Montréal – CycloChrome, The Lion Electric Company, the Société de transport de Laval, Blue Solutions Canada, Cégep de Saint-Jérôme, École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), Cégep de Sainte-Foy, Compétences VÉ – CPCPA, McGill University, Polytechnique Montréal, Concordia University, Université de Sherbrooke, Université Laval and École des métiers de l’équipement motorisé de Montréal – Continuing Education – CSSDM.
To learn more about the EIT sector and the possibilities fortraining and available jobs >>
RECAP OF RDV EN ROUTE 2021
On March 29 and 30, 2021 the very first edition of the RDV EN ROUTE event took place, bringing together Quebec experts, companies and educational institutions to introduce the world of electric and intelligent transportation to the general public, students and skilled workers!
This UNIQUE EVENT IN QUEBEC brought together:
- More than 400 participants
- Around forty exhibitors
- 16 speakers
- 24 partners
Stay tuned to our communications to learn everything about the 2nd edition of this major event!
