This text is part of the special section Unionism
With a record number of temporary foreign workers and asylum seekers, the Quebec job market is rapidly transforming, generating a whole range of challenges to integrate this workforce and guarantee their rights.
In the last quarter of 2022, there were more than 360,000 temporary immigrants in the province, according to a report from the Institut du Québec (IDQ) published in February. A year later, there were more than 528,000 and exceeded, for the first time, the number of permanent foreign workers.
At the same time, asylum requests are still growing in the country since the closure of Roxham Road, with Canada having processed a record number of more than 144,000 in 2023. “The rise of temporary immigrants does not only profoundly change the face of immigration, it also transforms the job market,” write the authors of the IDQ study.
Dalia Gesualdi-Fecteau, professor in the Department of Legal Sciences at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), is of the same opinion. According to her, Quebec is currently experiencing a “paradigm change” in the field. “We are in the process of filling permanent positions with workers who have temporary status,” she observes. And asylum seekers are a group from which we will increasingly draw to meet needs. We increasingly perceive these people as a labor pool. »
Temporary status workers and asylum seekers do not have access to the same type of services and jobs. The first arrive on the territory following a request from a specific employer for a given period. Asylum seekers, not linked to a company, have access to a greater number of options on the job market and to different support services, in terms of housing or legal aid, for example.
Many challenges
But all these people have a precarious status, recalls Mme Gesualdi-Fecteau. “They have very limited knowledge of the institutions, the rights that apply to them and the resources that will allow them to mobilize these rights,” illustrates the expert.
Most of these workers generally have access to low-paid and under-skilled positions. “Qualified people have difficulty finding a job at their skill level,” observes Adèle Garnier, professor in the Department of Geography at Laval University. Nurses in their country of origin will often be relegated to beneficiary attendant positions. I think we need to reduce delays and increase employability support. »
Since 2018, asylum seekers holding a work permit no longer had access to Quebec’s subsidized daycare program. “It’s difficult for single-parent mothers and it creates situations where the mother and father will work alternately day and night to look after the children,” notes M.me Garnier. She recalls that asylum seekers also send money to support their families in their country of origin.
Other challenges are emerging, such as learning the language, inflation or the housing crisis, which are convincing many applicants who filed their files in Quebec to leave the province. For the latter, the delays in obtaining a work permit can extend over several months. This can push them to seek employment on the black market, with the risk of expulsion from Canada, or make them more economically precarious, notes Mme Gesualdi-Fecteau.
According to the professor, we need to start a public conversation about working conditions. “We need to understand why these sectors are neglected by the local workforce,” she believes. It can send a message that the mere presence of workers levels conditions downward. »
“It’s a question of production model,” opines Patrice Jalette, professor at the University of Montreal specializing in labor relations and collective agreements. In a slaughterhouse where we are going to kill 2000 chickens per day in cold and humid conditions, difficult working conditions… My definition of hell is that. With dependence on work permits and housing, it is a system that feeds on the vulnerability of workers. »
The position of the unions and the government
“The question that arises is: what is the role of unions with regard to people who have a fragile migratory condition? states Mme Gesualdi-Fecteau. At the heart of this question is the precarious status, the absence of permanent status. However, unions are often poorly equipped [pour accompagner les travailleurs étrangers]. »
For temporary workers, how can we combine the sometimes contradictory requirements of immigration programs with those of the collective agreement? asks the professor, who notes a capacity for support that varies greatly from one union environment to another.
A politicization of immigration in Quebec is also observed by various specialists. “Asylum seekers have often been described by Quebec government authorities as a burden whose presence is in some way imposed by the federal government,” concluded in 2021 the authors of a research report led by Jill Hanley, of the McGill University.
In recent weeks, the government led by François Legault has spoken of “a humanitarian crisis” in the province, notably associating the growing number of asylum seekers with a threat to Quebec identity. In February, he also announced his intention to appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision, which granted access to subsidized childcare to those seeking asylum, to the Supreme Court.
According to Mme Garnier, the perception is quite different at the local level, in companies lacking manpower and often welcoming these people with open arms. The Chaudière-Appalaches region, relatively white and homogeneous, has received a large number of foreign workers for a year, illustrates the specialist. And they are increasing their efforts to integrate, she continues. “Most asylum seekers, all they want is to have a future in Quebec and make their life here. »
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