Eight months after negotiating easing measures with Ottawa, the Legault government will finally implement a “fast track” to bring in qualified workers selected by Quebec from abroad while waiting for permanent residence. Within “a few weeks”, the International Mobility Program (PMI +) will allow workers who meet Quebec’s labor needs to come and work here thanks to an open work permit granted by the federal government in waiting for them to be granted residency.
Ultimately, the open work permits aim to repatriate to Quebec some 7,000 foreign workers who already hold a Quebec Selection Certificate. They must have work experience in a sector deemed to be a priority (or in a profession assessed as having a labor shortage) or even hold a permanent job offer from an employer. The Minister of Labor and also holder of the Immigration portfolio, Jean Boulet, describes this program as a “breath of fresh air for employers” in a Quebec with a labor shortage.
This announcement was welcomed by Manufacturiers et Exportateurs du Québec (MEQ), which will help manufacturing companies, especially in the regions, a sector that has more than 31,000 vacant positions. “We encourage the two levels of government to continue working together to reduce processing times for these workers and facilitate the process,” said Véronique Proulx, president and CEO of MEQ, in a press release.
The non-profit organization Le Québec c’est nous aussi, which campaigns in particular for the reduction of delays in obtaining permanent residence, says it is happy that the government sees immigration as one of the solutions to the labor shortage. -work. “However, we are concerned to see that through its various measures, the Quebec government continues to significantly increase the number of temporary immigrants without touching its permanent immigration targets. The workers, once they arrive here, risk realizing that their chances of settling permanently are higher in the other provinces and of leaving Quebec,” said Claire Launay, spokesperson for the organization. .
Minister Boulet also announced that within two months, next May 24, category C professions will finally be added to the simplified processing list, which notably allows employers to be exempted from the posting and recruiting workers abroad more quickly. The duty revealed in mid-March that these professions requiring few qualifications had still not been added to the list, as Minister Boulet had promised last November. The fault would have rested with Employment and Social Development Canada, the manager of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which was experiencing computer problems.