New living together training program and support activities

Quebec City, September 13, 2023—Quebec City, Université Laval and Beneva today unveiled the Parcours du vivre-ensemble, a program that offers tools on how to live together in an increasingly diverse society.

This Quebec City initiative, developed jointly with its partners, is a training program with support activities which was created to promote and raise awareness of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles for all citizens, workers and employers.

"This project stems from the needs expressed by employers to better understand diversity in all its forms and be inclusive of all its employees in the workplace," said Bruno Marchand, Mayor of Quebec City. "The goal of the program is to enable businesses to give their teams the tools they need to ensure that everyone benefits from the positive impact of diversity on belonging and innovation. Citizens are also asked to participate in the program to find out what they can do to make our community even more welcoming and inclusive. I commend the municipal teams as well as the partner organizations and ambassadors who are involved in this important project."

The Parcours du vivre-ensemble has three parts:

1. Online training

   The online training course Mieux vivre ensemble au travail was developed by experts from the Chaire de recherche sur l'intégration et la gestion des diversités en emploi (CRIDE) and the Service de développement professionnel (SDP) at Université Laval, in collaboration with Quebec City's diversity, equity and inclusion consultant.

   The four three-hour training modules cover the best practices for welcoming and including people from diverse backgrounds and promoting collaboration in the workplace. The training includes real-life examples, critical thinking exercises and testimonials. It can be taken at the learner’s convenience.

   The course is available on the Brio learning platform for minimal fees.

   The first two modules are currently online, while the others will be available in October.

2. Support Activities

   To make it easier for everyone to learn and develop living-together skills, activities such as conferences and workshops will also be offered to the public and businesses based on expressed needs.

   The first conference will be free and open to the public. It will take place on Thursday, October 26, 2023, at 7 p.m, at the Musée de la civilisation.

   Dean Bergeron, paralympic medalist, actuary and keynote speaker, will recount his inspiring journey as well as his observations on the value of diversity for society. Registration is now open.

3. Raising awareness

   L’aide-mémoire du vivre-ensemble is a series of six animated short videos that explain the key concepts related to living together. In just a few minutes, citizens will gain a better understanding of topics related to DEI.

"At Université Laval, we firmly believe in the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion. They make it easier for people to interact, while also stimulating excellence, innovation and creativity in both teaching and research," said Sophie D'Amours, Rector of Université Laval. "So it’s only natural for us to contribute our expertise to the development of Quebec City’s training program and support activities on living together. Université Laval is proud to be the partner of a program that will contribute to making Quebec City a place where diversity is an asset."

Ambassador organizations

Quebec City-based insurer Beneva has provided financial support to the Parcours du vivre-ensemble.

"At Beneva, we believe that differences should be celebrated, and that community well-being is important," said Jean-François Chalifoux, President and CEO of Beneva. "This is what our company was founded on, and it still applies today as we continue to build our company with our employees. The Parcours du vivre-ensemble is a tangible expression of the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion, and provides tools for acknowledging and embracing differences. We firmly believe in this program, and we take great pride in being a part of it. We applaud this Quebec City initiative, developed jointly with Université Laval, which will benefit both businesses and citizens, including Beneva and its employees."

A number of Quebec City organizations have agreed to become ambassadors of living together project. In that capacity, they have committed to offer their staff the online training course Mieux vivre ensemble au travail and support activities and to apply best practices in terms of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.

Here is the list of ambassadors who received their certificates of commitment today:

Université Laval, Beneva, Aéroport de Québec Inc., La Maison Simons Inc., Musée de la civilisation, Norda Stelo and Québec International.

The following municipal services are also ambassadors: Coordination stratégique et relations internationales, Destination Québec cité, Développement économique et grands projets, Direction générale, Interaction citoyenne et communications, Loisirs, sports et vie communautaire, Ressources humaines, Service de police de la Ville de Québec and Technologies de l’information.

For those who want to become an ambassador and participate in the development of an increasingly inclusive community, registration is still open.

Refer to the official Quebec City website for more information about the Parcours du vivre-ensemble.

Source:

Annie Morin
Communications
418 641-6210
[email protected]

Interviews:

Thomas Gaudreault
Mayor’s Office
418 456-2282
[email protected]

Université Laval
Press Room
418 656-3355
[email protected]

Beneva
Media Relations
1 866 332-3806
[email protected]