Hire a plasterer in Québec.

You can verify a worker's competency certificate directly through CCQ's online services (sel.ccq.org). It's a quick step to run before hiring — a worker without a valid certificate (apprentice CCA or journeyperson CCC) can't legally work on your R-20-regulated job sites. While you're at it, confirm the worker also holds a current ASP Construction card (general health and safety on job sites). The market is competitive: in 2024, 1,450 companies were hiring plasterers from a pool of only 3,950 active workers, and barely 241 new apprentices entered the trade. Make sure your posting reflects the target sector's experience — institutional-commercial (76% of volume) or residential (24%) — to attract the right candidates quickly.

In residential, the book ratio is 1 journeyperson per apprentice. In institutional-commercial, industrial, and civil engineering and roads, it's 2 journeypersons per apprentice. In practice, with the 2:1 ratio, you can have 1 apprentice per 1 or 2 journeypersons, 2 apprentices per 3 or 4 journeypersons, and so on. On-site, a journeyperson can supervise a 2nd apprentice (maximum two) if one of the apprentices is in their last apprenticeship period or is a woman — but the two conditions don't stack. This ratio frames the 6,000 apprenticeship hours spread across 3 periods of 2,000 hours. Always check the ratios in effect on ccq.org, since they can vary by sector and change with collective agreements.

Yes, the market is tight. In 2024, 1,450 companies were looking for plasterers in Quebec against only 3,950 active workers, and barely 241 new apprentices were admitted — well below the 390-per-year average seen between 2020 and 2023. The CCQ attributes these needs to low workforce availability, a very significant aging trend, and high turnover. The most effective moves: post on the CCQ's talent board (releve.ccq.org), contact training centres that offer the DEP in Plastering, and work with a construction-focused recruitment agency that knows the pool of available journeypersons. Also invest in retaining your current plasterers: with 28% of journeypersons aged 55 or older, holding onto experience matters as much as recruiting.