Katimavik is pleased to partner with Destination Québec cité, an organization that brings together many members of the tourism industry in the Québec City area, to offer a stepping stone to a professional career to young Canadians through the FuturePerfect program. Over the next year, the program will support three cohorts of participants to obtain full-time employment in the tourism industry in the Quebec City area. Destination Québec cité will enhance the program by including a French immersion component.

From May 10 to August 11, 2023, the Quebec City area will host a first cohort of approximately 30 young Canadians between the ages of 18 and 30 who will have the opportunity to work full-time for three months in the tourism industry in the Quebec City area. In addition, the program will allow them to experience French immersion, including French language courses. In total, three different cohorts of about thirty young people will participate by March 2024. This is an excellent opportunity for these young people to discover Quebec culture while helping face challenges related to the labour shortage.

The partnership with Destination Québec cité will allow the region’s tourism industry to have access to this pool of Canadian workers. The partnership will also provide young people recruited by Katimavik with the opportunity to develop their professional skills through intensive hands-on training, work experience, and collaboration with recognized employers, while guiding them towards their career aspirations.

“Katimavik is honored and pleased to announce this partnership with Destination Québec cité. Together, we can help young Canadians, whose mother tongue is English, to immerse themselves in Quebec culture, to learn and discover the beauty of the French language, appreciating and validating bilingualism as a fundamental national value. We are convinced that this partnership will contribute to the development of the tourism and hospitality industry in Quebec City through youth employment,” added John-Frederick Cameron, CEO of Katimavik.

“We are very proud to partner with Katimavik and its FuturePerfect program, which we see as a great tool to ease the burden of recruitment for tourism businesses. The employees of our tourism businesses are directly linked to the visitor experience, they are our calling card! As an added bonus, this partnership allows us to further position Quebec City as the Capital of the French-speaking world by providing an extraordinary immersion experience for all these young Canadians,” said Robert Mercure, Director of Destination Québec cité.

FuturePerfect by Katimavik is funded by the Government of Canada under the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy Program. We thank Employment and Social Development Canada and acknowledge their contribution that led to the realization of this partnership.