On March 9, an Entrepreneurial Workshop was held at Grosse Ile School.  The workshop targeted high school students and was based around the documentary “Life on the Magdalen Islands” which was aired on CBC’s Land and Sea. After viewing the documentary, the students discussed the key message of the video and what it meant to them. They also discussed the innovative and interesting business ideas that were portrayed in the video. The groups then brainstormed other potential business  opportunities within the community and  completed a “Your interests = Your career” quiz. The video was used as a means to promote entrepreneurship on the islands as well as the way of life in general as it portrayed the islands as being the place to be…to live, work or start a business.

On Tuesday March 22 fourteen high school students participated in a Study Tour across the Islands.  The tour included visits at the Carrefour Jeunesse Emploi des Iles, CEGEP des Iles, Les Constructions des Iles, and the Islands Hospital center where students were permitted to visit the laboratory, maternity ward, day surgery and physiotherapy.  The purpose of the tour was to inform English-speaking youth of the potential employment and training opportunities available on the islands as well as the service providers available to assist them.

Shortly after, four study tour participants joined students from the Gaspe coast by videoconference to discuss what they learned.  They shared information about services offered to youth in the region, potential job opportunities and the training and prerequisites needed to fill these positions.