After years of urging Ottawa to cut back the variety of non-permanent residents within the province, Quebec is now saying the federal authorities has gone too far.
On Thursday, Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge mentioned Ottawa’s newest measures to curb short-term immigration, significantly cuts to the short-term overseas employee program, have pushed many Quebec companies into “deplorable” conditions.
Quebec Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge responds to the Opposition throughout query interval on the legislature in Quebec Metropolis, Tuesday, April 8, 2025.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot
“Ottawa is creating an emergency,” Roberge instructed the media in Quebec Metropolis. “I don’t understand what they’re thinking.”
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His feedback mark a pointy shift in tone for Premier François Legault’s authorities, which has lengthy argued that an inflow of non-permanent residents was placing stress on housing, healthcare and the French language.
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However in current months, Quebec enterprise homeowners and trade teams have sounded the alarm about new federal limits on the short-term overseas employee program, warning they may have catastrophic penalties. Roberge echoed their issues on Thursday, saying there’s a “crisis” in Quebec’s areas.
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Roberge confused that Quebec’s issues have all the time been directed at asylum seekers and different classes beneath federal management — not at short-term overseas staff who fill labour shortages. “We don’t want businesses to close,” he mentioned.
This comes as Roberge unveiled his immigration plan for the province on Thursday, which included decreasing its immigration targets for the subsequent 4 years to 45,000 new everlasting residents yearly. This marks a lower from the 61,000 everlasting immigrants who’re anticipated in Quebec this 12 months.
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Roberge mentioned he had beforehand thought of reducing everlasting immigration ranges to as little as 25,000 folks per 12 months. However with Ottawa refusing to ease restrictions on short-term overseas staff, he mentioned Quebec now has little selection however to supply everlasting standing to a few of these staff moderately than see them compelled to depart.
Final 12 months, the federal authorities reinstated a rule capping low-wage short-term overseas staff at 10 per cent of an organization’s workforce, reversing a 2022 growth meant to ease labour shortages. Roberge mentioned Quebec has requested for a grandfather clause to let staff already within the province stay, however the request was denied.
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At current committee hearings, trade representatives warned that the cap is hitting companies arduous, particularly these depending on overseas labour.
“Quebec simply does not have enough workers to support its growth, public services and economic ambitions.”
This week’s federal finances reported that new short-term overseas employee arrivals have dropped by roughly 50 per cent thus far this 12 months.
–with recordsdata from The Canadian Press
