The great wave of temporary immigration is running out of steam and this prospect is displeasing in Beauce. Business leaders organized a public outing Monday morning to demand more flexibility in hiring their employees internationally, otherwise it will be their growth in Quebec that will slow down.
According to data from the Beauce Immigration Strategy Table (TSIB) published Monday, the trend was already slowing before Ottawa’s restrictions.
Between 2022 and 2023, 149 Beauceron companies planned to engage in international recruitment in the next year. Between 2023 and 2024, these intentions fell to 100 companies. For 2024-2025, the same ambition only concerned 61 companies. This drop of 59% in 3 years, although not exhaustive for all businesses in Beauce, is worrying in this region known for its entrepreneurial spirit.
“Despite a relative drop in recruitment intentions, businesses in Beauce still have a crucial need for foreign workers to keep their operations afloat,” argued Gaétan Vachon, prefect of the MRC of Nouvelle-Beauce.
Along with other representatives of the TSIB, he pleaded for exceptional measures in a region with a particularly vigorous economy.
Although there is an increase in unemployment across Canada, the unemployment rate is still below 3% in Beauce. The region can still absorb foreign labor, claims Hélène Latulippe, general director of the Beauce Economic Council, in an interview. “We never hid the fact that there were a lot of arrivals, that the situation needed to be regularized. But [la solution] is not to apply wall-to-wall and drastic measures. »
Establishing an acquired rights clause would ease the brakes, she maintains.
In fact, the first temporary immigrants settled in Beauce three years ago. They are the best housed, the most French-speaking and those whose children are best integrated. Despite this, they are also the first to have to leave once their license expires, underlines Mme Latulippe. “The workers in whom we have invested the most money are the first to leave, since they are the next ones who must renew their permit. […] These are human tragedies that we will experience in the coming months. By the hundreds! »
Consequences for everyone
Limiting the arrival of workers in Beauce will have direct consequences on business growth, according to the local business community.
“About 50% of respondents to our survey last June had 10% or more immigrants. So 53 companies that responded to our survey will have to let go of workers,” explains Hélène Latulippe. “For example, we have a company which claimed this morning to have 5 too many workers. If these workers have to leave Beauce, we will have to cut an evening shift. And out of that quarter, there are 8 Quebecers. It is immigrants, but also Quebecers who will suffer the repercussions of this. »
Several Beauceron companies established in Quebec and the United States are also considering transferring part of their activity across the border, in the face of the government’s refusal to accept more flexibility.
Beyond these demands, the information document exposes Beauceron immigration in evolution. In 2022-2023, 72% of immigrants present in the territory were Latin Americans. This year, these only represent 38% of them. Conversely, the proportion of African workers increased from 26% to 33% during the same period.
There are 1,734 foreign workers in Beauce currently, according to TSIB statistics, 43% of whom arrived in the last 12 months. And despite the government’s most recent slowdown, 260 temporary foreign workers are still expected in Beauce in 2025.
This report is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.