RPA requests: “This is the first time I've seen this in 10 years,” says one manager.

After grinding to a halt in 2019, the Private Residence for Seniors (RPA), which finally managed to rise from its ashes last December, is now crumbling due to admission demands.

Located on Rue de la Faune, Hotel Royal Saint-Émile, formerly known as The Kingdom of Elders, has been forced to close its doors due to an inability to hire new staff.

At that time, the 28 residents had only one week to find a new home.

Although the difficulty of recruiting workers still exists after five years, the new director of the facility indicates that transfer requests “have become more numerous than ever before.”

“I have been working in this field for 10 years, and this is the first time I have seen such a large number of relocation requests. We have received 20 new residents in just two weeks,” says Mario Beaumont.

“If I had opened five residences that could each accommodate about thirty people, I have no doubt that the rooms would have found customers since there is a shortage of space everywhere at the moment,” adds the man who is also director of two other RPA companies. Carefully.

Lack of labor

For three years, Mr. Beaumont has been searching internationally for staff. A long but necessary process due to the difficulty of recruitment.

“We do a lot of business with Algeria and Tunisia. We receive nurses who come to work as companions because they are not recognized as such here,” says Mr. Beaumont.

He added: “It may take up to a year and these are additional costs, but they are necessary, and in addition to that, they are employees of exceptional quality.”

However, he laments the bureaucracy surrounding the recognition of acquired skills of workers from other countries, noting that “Quebec is losing many highly qualified workers.”

“Two months ago, I had a doctor who practiced internationally who was here, but he couldn't even be a practical nurse in Quebec,” he explains.

It's hard to get started

While many regional areas in the region announced closures last year, Mr Beaumont believes government assistance could encourage some with experience to reopen some.

“It is difficult to get government assistance or simply get a loan to buy a home for the elderly because banks are cautious. So not everyone has the means to invest that kind of money,” explains the director.

Although he loves what he does, he explains that he himself does not have the strength to go and buy other residences for sale in the area in order to put them back into business.

“The needs are stark, but if there is help to help us with loans, there will certainly be more experienced people who want to unlock the resources,” the owner reiterates.