Hi Bastien,  thanks a lot for your response but I finally solved the issue by installing the package cm-super.
Cheers,
Martin

> From: bzg@gnu.org
> To: mart_00@hotmail.com
> CC: emacs-orgmode@gnu.org
> Subject: Re: fontenc makes pdf non-searchable
> Date: Wed, 5 Aug 2015 02:00:52 +0200
> 
> Hi Martin,
> 
> Martin Leduc <mart_00@hotmail.com> writes:
> 
> > However, when opening the experted pdf (with evince or okular) and
> > searching for a word, the output from the search function is a list
> > of words with apparently incorrect character encoding.
> >
> > I get the same result when compiling directly the exported tex file.
> > However, if I remove the line:
> >
> > \usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
> >
> > the compiled pdf becomes correctly interpreted by the search
> > function. According to the documentation of the org-article latex
> > class, "There is no facility to disable loading fontenc".
> >
> > What should I do to make the pdf searchable with the org exporter ?
> 
> I would try to remove the relevant entry from
> `org-latex-default-packages-alist'.  Did you try this?
> 
> -- 
>  Bastien