Success Stories

SADC Matawanie Inc.

Quebec program trains single mothers in multimedia technology

In the last two years, several young women have become web design experts thanks to La Société d’aide au développement de la collectivité (SADC) in Matawanie, Quebec. SADC is a community development program that hires single mothers in need of on-the-job training in order to compete in today’s information age workforce. These women have produced four digital collections under contract to the Canada’s Digital Collections (CDC) program.

The four digital collections produced by the SADC program are: Lanaudière, haut lieu de culture musicale, an in-depth look at Lanaudière’s historical summer music festival and its founding fathers; Histoires, Contes et Légendes de la Matawanie, a wonderful site for students of all ages who wish to read about the folklore and legends of Matawanie; Yves Thériault, a compilation of articles and texts written about the 20th century Quebec author; and their latest project, Musée d’art de Joliette: Collection permenante, a virtual exhibition of the local museum collection in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Refus Global. All the collections focus on the rich culture and local history of the Matawanie and Lanaudière regions of Quebec.

To date, CDC, funded by the Youth Employment Strategy, has enabled over 2,300 young Canadians (ages 15-30) to gain valuable work experience in the multimedia sector. By converting significant Canadian content for display on the Information Highway, Canadian youth have not only gained skills for knowledge-based employment but have provided greater access to Canadian holdings located in archives, libraries, museums and other sources.

During the few weeks that the women worked on these projects, they benefited from multimedia programming and design training under the guidance of a full-time supervisor and they worked within a fixed schedule in order to overcome deadline pressures. The women gained a renewed sense of pride and confidence in their abilities to complete complex projects while juggling second jobs as full-time single mothers. They also acquired a sense of self-worth in earning wages to support their families and “therefore enjoyed an increased self-esteem.”

The SADC and CDC initiatives have proven to be a success for these women. Armand Doré, president of SADC Matawanie Inc., proudly affirms that “after six months on the CDC program, 50% of [the women] successfully secured jobs in the labour market.” In addition, he praises the program’s focus on current job trends. “Many of [the women],” he states, “had previously followed different training programs but have been unsuccessful in securing employment.”

In response to some single mothers’ obstacles such as a lack of vehicle or daycare expenses, Mr. Doré is planning to introduce remote access to allow people such as these to participate in the digital production. With Community Access Program (CAP) centres located in 9 municipalities throughout their region, SADC Matawanie Inc. will have a better opportunity to hire single mothers in remote areas. “We believe that approaches of this kind will make a difference in moving disadvantaged rural communities (currently with a 20% unemployment rate) into the 21st century.”

Programs such as SADC Matawanie Inc. in collaboration with Canada’s Digital Collections not only digitize local histories featuring communities across Canada but also help strengthen these communities by training younger generations in evolving technologies.

Visit the Canada's Digital Collections World Wide Web Site at http://collections.ic.gc.ca