A new labour-market report is warning that Quebec’s English-speaking population continues to face entrenched economic disadvantages, and that these disparities are costing the province far more than previously understood.

Researchers behind the study say the findings challenge long-held stereotypes about anglophones in Quebec and reveal a labour-market gap that is shrinking the province’s economy annually.

“It’s increasingly the opposite,” said Nicholas Salter, executive director of the Provincial Employment Roundtable (PERT), which commissioned the research. “The poverty data is particularly stark and shocking.”

Researchers warn that these challenges are persistent, measurable and not going away without targeted intervention.

According to the report, Quebec is losing more than $1.5 billion every year because English-speaking Quebecers continue to face lower wages, higher unemployment and nearly double the poverty rate of francophones.

When those gaps are projected across the labour force, researchers estimate that the lost income annually is money that isn’t being earned, spent or taxed.

According to 2021 census data, the unemployment rate among anglophones was 10.9 per cent, compared with 6.9 per cent among francophones.

Even when considering age, education, region and immigration status, the employment rate for English speakers remained 2.8 points lower, and their wages nearly 12 per cent lower.

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Salter said the findings are even more striking given that English-speaking Quebecers tend to be well educated and highly bilingual. Yet he says many still shy away from job postings requiring “perfect” French.

“People  (are) lacking confidence in their French language,” he said. “So (they’re) self-selecting themselves out of jobs that they’re probably qualified for.”

He believes the province should develop employment programs tailored to anglophones, including training to help workers build the technical French needed in professional environments.

“If we’re able to close those gaps and actually get them at the same employment rate as francophones, earning the same amount as francophones, that’s the amount of money that will be added to Quebec’s economy,” Salter said.

According to other experts, the data is real, and rather predictable.

Concordia economist Moshe Lander says the economic fallout isn’t surprising and has seen the effects of it first-hand.

“At Concordia, at McGill, applications are down. Faculty are running away. Grad students who would normally be coming in are running away. They’re going to go study elsewhere, which means that when they graduate, they’re going to work elsewhere,” he said.

Lander says the gaps highlighted in the report aren’t happening in isolation.

He said the findings point to significant economic consequences for the province if English-speaking workers continue to opt out of job opportunities or leave altogether; a dynamic he argues is driven by policy choices.

“Everything involves trade-offs in life. Everything,” he said. “We can have an extra billion and a half, or we can virulently protect the French language. Take your pick.”

Lander added that acknowledging those trade-offs could open space for a more honest debate about how Quebec balances language priorities with economic growth.

“There’s a huge economic opportunity here,” he added.

Other advocates also agree that these gaps aren’t just anglophonic issues, but provincial onces.

“What the government needs to do is to find out how to open doors for them, because it’s in their interest as well,” said Eva Ludvig, executive director of the Quebec Community Groups Network.

In a statement to Global News, a spokesperson for Quebec’s employment minister said the ministry would not comment until it had reviewed the report.

The ministry noted it funds the Advisory Committee on English Speaking Quebecers and works with the Secretariat for Relations with English-Speaking Quebecers “to better understand their realities.”

The ministry added that English-speaking Quebecers “have access to the full range of public employment services,” but emphasized that the population includes diverse sub-groups, such as immigrants and Indigenous people, whose barriers differ.

Researchers say understanding that diversity is important, but avoiding the issue is costly.

“By helping our community get into those French workplaces,” Salter said, “we’re actually helping strengthen French.”

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