End of exceptions to temporary worker ceilings, including for those affected by “simplified processing” in Quebec

Another tightening of the screws on temporary immigration. Ottawa will announce Wednesday that its most recent tightening of low-wage temporary foreign workers also applies to “simplified processing,” a list of occupations designated as shortage occupations by Quebec.

A 10% cap on low-wage foreign staff per company, as well as shorter contracts, will now be in place, according to a source close to the government file. A complete hiring freeze in certain cities will also be in force for low-wage positions on this list of more than 250 professions.

The ministries of both levels of government had until now affirmed that Duty continue “discussions” and “exchanges”.

In late August, a few days after the provincial government, the federal government announced tightening of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program for the low-wage stream. This was a return to pre-pandemic rules, including the maximum cap for these workers and the hiring period of one year, rather than two years.

Montreal was also targeted by a six-month moratorium on low-wage positions, except for certain exempt sectors: construction, health, food and fish processing. Ottawa announced a similar freeze for all metropolitan areas where the unemployment rate is 6% or higher, which includes Laval and Hull in addition to Montreal.

End of preferential treatment

Since the beginning of 2022, at the request of the Legault government, there was no limit to the proportion of temporary foreign workers in a workplace, if they occupied positions on the simplified processing list. These jobs were then considered to be in “confirmed” or “chronic” shortage, as Jean Boulet, then Minister of Labour, had expressed at the time.

Cooks, receptionists, administrative assistants, storekeepers, clerks, forestry workers, textile machine operators or weavers: these occupations could all be subject to the new restrictions if the jobs are posted at less than $27.47 per hour, that is, below the median wage in Quebec.

This list has expanded from a few dozen professions to more than 250 in 2024, a significant portion of which are considered “low-wage”. It had therefore become increasingly important, to the point where, in 2023, 63% of temporary worker files had gone through simplified processing, outside of agriculture.

Employers using this mechanism also no longer had to demonstrate that they had sought to recruit someone locally. These elements were beginning to displease the unions, leading the Metalworkers, for example, to say that the simplified treatment “distorts” the program.

For their part, companies were defending themselves rather than being part of this list, “the labour deficit must be truly confirmed”, as Denis Hamel, vice-president of labour development policies at the Conseil du patronat du Québec, had indicated.

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