Jewish Vocational Services – Sheltered Workshop

1950 - 1957
4652 Jeanne-Mance

From 1945 to 2002, Jewish Vocational Services (JVS) was an agency that provided career training, job placement and professional development services for the diverse Jewish population of Montreal and its surrounding areas. The need for a specialized Jewish employment agency arose during the Depression era, a time rife with unemployment, breadlines , labour conflict, and heightened antisemitism. In 1937 Dr. Frances Alexander, a clinical psychologist at McGill University, conducted a survey to assess the employment situation for Montreal Jews and especially Jewish youth. Her report confirmed that discrimination against Jews in the workplace, an overconcentration of Jewish youth in already overcrowded clerical positions, and a lack of career guidance or planning, placed Jewish youth at a major disadvantage. The report recommended that an independent organization – one divorced from charity – be established to help Jewish youths.

The outbreak of World War II postponed its implementation. While JVS was originally conceived of as a service for youth, the rapid discharge of personnel from the armed forces and the closing of wartime industries shifted the target of the agency. With Saul Hayes as Founding President (also head of Canadian Jewish Congress) and Dr. Jacob Tuckman as Executive Director, JVS officially opened in 1945 with two departments (Vocational Services and Job Placement) aiming to serve the needs of both youth and adults.

Dr. Alfred Feintuch became Executive Director of JVS in 1950 and oversaw the creation of the first sheltered workshop in the basement of the Herzl Health Centre located at 4652 Jeanne-Mance. The workshop provided people, disadvantaged due to advanced age or physical or mental disabilities, training to enter competitive industry, or counseling and employment in a Jewish milieu for those who could not. The sheltered workshop increased the number of its employees and expanded its facilities, moving to various locations on Van Horne, Ducharme, Buchan, and Royden streets. Its modern incarnation is the Jewish Employment Montreal (JEM) Workshop, located at 8400 Mountain Sights. In 1979, the Workshop became a Centre de travail adapté with support from l’Office des personnes handicapées du Québec (OPHQ). Employees of the workshop are guaranteed minimum wage and benefits under Quebec employment laws.

The socio-economic history of Canada and Quebec and the evolution in the field of social work are reflected in the changing programs of JVS. For example, in the 1970s a mature worker program was created with federal funding to support unemployed persons over the age of 45. A mature women’s career counseling program was also developed to support the increasing number of women (many of whom were single mothers) entering or re-entering the workforce. Staff at JVS learned to adapt to the specific cultural, linguistic and practical needs of different Jewish populations.

After a structural change in 2003, Jewish Vocational Services became Jewish Employment Montreal (JEM). In 2008, Jewish Employment Montreal merged with Jewish Family Services of the Baron de Hirsch Institute and Jewish Immigrant Aid Services to become Ometz. The JEM Workshop retained its name.

Visit Ometz150.ca to learn more!

Written by Stephanie Tara Schwartz

Links

Liens

"The Story of Jewish Vocational Service in Canada" - Karen Goldenberg and Etan Vlessing
JEM Workshop Inc.
JEM Workshop Unites Students, Mentally Challenged - CTV Montreal News
Ometz

Sources

Baron de Hirsch Institute, 1863–1963. Montreal: Baron de Hirsch Institute, 1963.

Benegbi-Gutstein, Léa. “Jewish Employment Montreal: New ‘JEM’ on the Block.” E-Lights: Association of Jewish Vocational Service Professionals 1.3 (2003): 1.

Feintuch, Alfred. Jewish Vocation Service 1945-1985: A Proud Record of 40 Years of Service. Montreal: Jewish Vocational Service, 1985.

Goldenberg, Karen and Etan Vlessing. “The Story of Jewish Vocational Service in Canada.” Journal of Jewish Communal Service. 82.3 (2007): 226-233.

“Jobs found for one-third of applicants: Feintuch chronicles JVS history.” Canadian Jewish News. 20 June, 1985. 18.

JVS Jewish Workshop Inc. / Centre juif de travail JVS inc. 50 Year Anniversary Publication 1950-2000, JVS, 2000.

Mendelson, David. “A Retrospective of Jewish Vocational Service: As Viewed Through the Pages of the Journal of Jewish Communal Service.” Journal of Jewish Communal Service. 82 (3): 2007. 171-180.

“Howard Berger.” Federation CJA Annual Report 2007-2008.

Tulchinsky, Gerald. Branching Out: The Transformation of the Canadian Jewish Community. Stoddart: Toronto, 1998.

*Images courtesy of Jewish Public Library Archives and the Jewish General Hospital Archives.

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