The freeze on hiring low-wage temporary foreign workers is unpopular with both the political opposition and businesses, but for opposite reasons. Employers fear being deprived of workers and are alarmed by the fate of workers already here. The other parties in the National Assembly are concerned about the lack of scope of the freeze and the manner in which it will be implemented.
On Tuesday morning, Premier François Legault announced a six-month moratorium on positions paying less than $27.47 per hour in Montreal, a measure that will affect a few thousand people. Large sectors such as health care, education, construction and food processing will be exempt. Agricultural workers are also not included, since they are in a different part of the program.
“It complicates our lives enormously,” observes Montreal businessman Nader Azrak. The owner of several restaurant franchises in the city recruited almost 20% of his staff thanks to this program, which is now frozen. “We were looking to acquire other [restaurants]. With news like this, it puts the brakes on.”
Many of his employees were preparing to renew their contracts. With Tuesday’s news, he expects to have to reduce his number of employees. “The solution before [l’embauche de ces travailleurs]was to reduce our hours of operation. We’re going to go back to that. We’re going to have to reduce our hours of operation. The service is going to take a hit, for sure. It’s going to be slower.”
Permit renewals will, however, be able to continue if Montreal companies manage to increase the wage to more than $27.47, which Mr. Azrak is now considering. “We’re going to have to increase the wage we pay to keep them. I don’t see any other solutions.”
High unemployment
If Montreal was targeted, it is notably because of its unemployment rate, which is higher than in the rest of the province, specified the Minister of Immigration, Christine Fréchette, during the announcement.
There would still be 2,890 vacant positions in the manufacturing sector, argued the Manufacturiers et exportations du Québec (MEQ). “Companies would not recruit abroad if the existing labour pool here could meet demand,” declared Véronique Proulx, its president and CEO.
International recruitment is not the first choice of these companies, she recalls, because it is a real “obstacle course” with a significant cost. The freeze, although for six months, throws “a spanner in the works”, according to her.
The Conseil du patronat du Québec (CPQ) also reacted quickly to this temporary freeze. “Services, retail, restaurants and manufacturing” will suffer from this decision, laments Karl Blackburn, president and CEO of the CPQ. “Montrealers will see their expenses increase, adding to the inflationary pressure that is already reducing their purchasing power.”
This announcement is “smoke and mirrors,” according to the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), which says it is in favor of tightening the rules. “The government is not promising to improve the lot of other temporary workers who are not targeted by this announcement, nor to ensure that employers assume their responsibilities.”
Political reactions
The measure is an “admission of failure” for Québec solidaire. It is “improvised and inadequate,” said Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, MNA and Solidaire’s immigration official, on Tuesday. “Québec solidaire has been in favour of reducing temporary immigration to Quebec for years, but in a precise and targeted manner while avoiding harming our key sectors,” he explained.
The party also points out that the government pays for and organizes recruitment missions abroad, spending several million dollars of public funds, as revealed The Duty last year.
Minister Fréchette addressed this aspect at a press conference Tuesday morning, saying that she is currently “reviewing all the actions that we are taking.” The people recruited during the Journées Québec à l’étranger are mainly destined for jobs in the regions and in protected sectors, she also specified.
The announcement is “minimal” in the eyes of Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, leader of the Parti Québécois. “It’s very little, very late,” he declared at a press briefing in Quebec City: “In short, it means that the symptoms of the CAQ’s loss of control over immigration thresholds will continue to be felt.”
Mr. Legault also explained that he is acting on the components or programs over which the province has power, which “testifies to the fact that he is completely overwhelmed by the immigration situation,” in the eyes of Mr. St-Pierre Plamondon. He estimates the potential reduction at less than 2,000 people, or less than 1% of the total number of non-permanent residents currently in Quebec, he recalled.