The five prefects of the region : Sébastien D'Astous (MRC Abitibi), Jaclin Bégin (Abitibi-Ouest), Claire Bolduc (Témiscamingue), Diane Dallaire (Rouyn-Noranda) and Martin Ferron (Vallée-de-l'Or).
The Gathering of elected officials of the Conference of Prefects of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, held Thursday in Amos and Friday in Landrienne, notably gave rise to announcements from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
The Abitibi-Témiscamingue Attractiveness Agency is thus the agent of a sum of $2.3 million, mainly provided by the Ministère des Affaires municipales and the MRC of the region.
This was announced by the MP for Abitibi-Est, Pierre Dufour, and the MP for Abitibi-Ouest, Suzanne Blais, on Friday morning.
It's really something different, which should give the Abitibi-Témiscamingue sector and the sectors that will be involved the opportunity to ensure that funds can be quickly released, explains Mr. Dufour, giving the example of the Integrated Center health and social services.
An opinion shared by Louis Bourget, president of the Abitibi-Témiscamingue Attractiveness Agency, who points out that the funds will be paid to organizations in the region to help them recruit workers and promote their retention.
This will allow organizations in our region to submit projects related to attracting and keeping people here, says Mr. Bourget.
The Abitibi-Témiscamingue Attractiveness Agency will also use part of the funds, awarded over a three-year period, to develop an attraction strategy, in addition to defining the image brand image of Abitibi-Témiscamingue.
It has already been underway for some time, especially the current brand image, which is Building your dreams with your feet on earth. It is declined at the regional level, but it is also declined at the level of the five regional county municipalities, indicates Louis Bourget.
The president of the Abitibi-Témiscamingue Attractiveness Agency, Louis Bourget.
It cannot specify for the moment the number of immigrants and workers that it would like to welcome in Abitibi-Témiscamingue over the next few years. He adds that targets will be set over the next year.
The Regions and Rurality Fund, created in 2019 by the Quebec government, is also contributing $150,000 to open a La Ruche regional office in Abitibi-Témiscamingue.
La Ruche is an organization non-profit specializing in the field of crowdfunding. Established in 13 regions of Quebec, it allows local associations to raise funds.
It is a platform where people and organizations can submit their projects in order to receive donations . We did not have it [yet] in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, explains Suzanne Blais.
Pierre Dufour, also indicated that $ 148,000 will be donated to the Center de formation professionnelle (CFP ) of Val-d'Or to enable it to conduct a feasibility study.
The institution could then, based on the results of this study, expand its premises or build a new building. The CFP ultimately hopes to set up a technology pavilion dedicated to the creation of digital training.
