Small Towns, Big Hopes

Rural Quebec looks to newcomers to extend the life of shrinking villages

- Étienne Lajoie

THE MAJOR attractions of Saint-Gédéon-de-Beauce, an hour-and-a-half drive from Quebec City, could be toured in minutes. There’s the spired church, built in 1911, and, next to it, the town hall, converted from a convent. A stone’s throw away is the heart of the village: Groupe Canam, the largest builder of steel components in North America. Nearly all 2,200 residents of Saint-Gédéon have connections with Canam, and some likely still remember the moment the plant’s foundations were poured in 1960. The owner of Rôtisserie Mom’s, a restaurant located on Canam Boulevard, worked there, as did the husband of Margot Lachance, who runs Saint-Gédéon’s only bed and breakfast. Affixed to the community arena’s facade is the name of Canam president Marcel Dutil; many of his roughly 800 local workers live in town.

Saint-Gédéon, despite its charms, is in decline. Young people are moving to urban centres to pursue their studies, new construction is practically nonexistent, and the only grocery store shuttered two years ago. But, as Saint-Gédéon shrinks, Canam is growing. Thanks to a booming Quebec economy, the company is in desperate need of welders. The labour shortage is also dire for other manufacturers in the surrounding region, a warren of thirty municipalities known as the Beauce. With the area unable to provide workers, companies have launched recruitment missions all over South America and Europe, offering stable incomes, paid vacations, and even free lodging to prospective hires. That’s how Canam, partnering with local professional schools, managed to convince about 100 Colombians to move to town.