Montreal school board launches butchery program to alleviate Quebec labour shortages

A new Montreal-based butchering program is looking to alleviate labour shortages across Quebec.

The Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) is offering a hands-on retail butchery program in Montreal, where students can learn the ins and outs of the profession, like proper knife handling, meat cutting and preparation techniques.

“There is a lot of job openings for sure because a lot of our older butchers are retiring and the shortage … is that we’re not producing enough students,” explained Christina Friesen, a teacher at the PACC Vocational Training Centre.

With the ongoing demand for more skilled workers in this sector, the board says this program will offer unique training; 60 per cent will take place at a vocational centre, while 40 per cent will be set in the workplace.

As one of the only centres in the province to offer the program in English, the centre will help open doors for students who will be able to specialize in areas such as artisanal butchery, charcuterie, or meat curing, with the hopes those students will open their own shops or catering businesses. Graduates will also be able to work in supermarkets, specialty butcher shops or meat processing plants.

“When we first think of butchery, the idea of a carcass comes to mind, but butchery is a lot more than a carcass. For us, the students we’re training, it’s all about community,” said Caroline Mueller, the assistant director of PACC.

The eight-month program shows students how to work on different types of protein, like chicken, beef and lamb, learning both in and out of class.

Student Maxime Guillet said since joining, he appreciates the craft more and more.

“During COVID, a lot of restaurants shut down, a lot of small butcher shops also shut down, and so there’s definitely a big dip in the amount of butchers we have in Montreal,” Guillet said. “And so what this program is doing is really pushing the next generation of butchers.”

According to statistics Canada, Montreal ranks highest in unemployment rate by region in the province with 8.1 per cent.

PACC representatives and butchers said they expect 10,000 vacancies in the next five years. Currently 46 per cent of butchers are men who are at least 40 years old.

The school predicts small butcher shops will close, followed by those in bigger food markets.

“It’s important to keep the butchery as it was years ago, centuries ago,” said PACC butchery teacher Martin Lavigne. “I think also the customer would like, would rather to have someone cutting meat than to be prepared by our machine.”

“In a way the shortage is because nobody’s wanting to come in and take the program or they don’t understand how easy and how good of a job you can actually get from it,” added Friesen. The vocational centre adds skilled butchers can earn competitive salaries.

Guillet says one of the course highlights is learning how to appreciate the animal and yield more from it

“There was definitely a curve of having to kind of learn that this is something that was once living and you’re processing it and kind of trying to do the most you can with it, not wasting,” he said. “Being mindful of how you’re cutting things.”

The course also provides funding for out-of-province and international students who need to relocate.

PACC attributes the shortage of butchers to the lack of awareness and mindfulness people have around food.

“I think it’s just not well known,” Friesen explained. “I think like a lot of the kids nowadays are growing up and the food’s on the table, but they’re not quite sure where the food’s actually coming from.”

“If you live in Montreal I suggest trying to move away from those big grocery stores and start shopping a little bit more locally with small butcher shops,” added Guillet.