ABSTRACT
There are about 50 Aboriginal communities distributed among 11 nations throughout Quebec, Canada. The analysis in this chapter showed a persistent lag compared with the non-Aboriginal communities in general, but also an interesting positive dynamic between the two survey periods covered (2001 and 2006). This is confirmed empirically by the average and median levels of socioeconomic indicators, which increased overall. Despite the low levels observed in indicators of socioeconomic development, the study showed that communities could diversify in areas of training, profession, and industrial development with a more important stress on secondary sectors with manufacturing and tertiary services. Numerous observations emerged from our analysis. They can be found in the form of factors of success or weakness. Pertaining to success factors, we discuss population growth generating human capital as a source of wealth; the ability of these communities to meet labour demands; the broad range of training offered; diversification in occupations throughout, with diversification indices often close to unity; strong diversification in areas of industrial activity; and the fact that proximity of urban centres encourages openness, and therefore a high level of diversification. However, areas of weakness are rated as low levels of schooling in the community as a whole, and low graduation rates – more than half the population has no diploma, degree, or certificate; the problem of securing an Aboriginal workforce available, increasingly, to meet companies' staffing needs; and lack of openness for some communities is a source of weakness in linguistic diversity and also in the level of income and activity.
