The Minister of Economy and Innovation of Quebec is closing the door to the request of employers’ organizations to raise the immigration thresholds in order to relieve the labor shortage.
Posted at 7:00 a.m.
“There are 240,000 unfilled jobs in Quebec. We have sources of talent to fill them and measures to encourage these people to enter the job market. There are 200,000 young people who are neither studying nor working; there are 180,000 unemployed and there are 80,000 workers aged 60 and over who could be added to the labor force by bringing the employment rate of older workers back to [celui de] Ontario,” said the Minister in his address Friday at noon to the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal.
It is also possible to increase temporary immigration, valid for two years, which has no limit, argued the minister. In addition, the files of 50,000 skilled workers are still lying around at the federal level, he added.
I reject the equation that is made between the shortage of labor and the uncontrolled immigration of permanent immigration. A few days ago, the Employers Council asked that the threshold be raised to 80,000 people. This is not desirable and it will not happen.
Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of the Economy of Quebec
“The basin is there. There are people available, ”he added in a press briefing following the lunch meeting.
Of the 240,000 vacancies, 87%, or approximately 210,000 positions, do not require a university degree. “We can therefore requalify our young people who have a secondary school diploma or a technique relatively quickly”, indicated Mr. Fitzgibbon.
“Our colleague at Labour, Minister Jean Boulet, has 2.9 billion at his disposal in last November’s economic update to tackle the requalification of the workforce, continued the Minister of Economy. There is $1.4 billion in the last budget. The amounts of money allocated to the Ministry of Labor and Employment are phenomenal. »
Before the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) government came to power, the province received 50,000 permanent immigrants a year. The CAQ lowered the threshold to 40,000 before raising it to 50,000. The pandemic struck. Immigration has fallen. In 2022, the Quebec government aims to welcome 70,000 people to make up for the delay, and then return to its target of 50,000 annual admissions.
Asked after lunch, the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Michel Leblanc, did not seem convinced of the minister’s demonstration.
The integration of the available labor force is a virtue. We agree. The reality is that labor market needs are varied. Those who are on the margins of the labor market are obviously not meeting current needs.
Michel Leblanc, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal
“On the side of temporary workers, there is a deadline issue,” said Mr. Leblanc. “I have business people who tell me that after finding their candidate abroad, it’s a matter of four to six months or more to get them there. There is a process issue. As far as economic immigrants are concerned, the thresholds are important, no matter what. I agree with my colleagues that 50,000 immigrants is too low. »
Revival of foreign direct investment
Earlier in the morning, Mr. Fitzgibbon attended the unveiling of the annual results of the subsidiary Investissement Québec International (IQI), responsible for soliciting foreign direct investment (FDI) and supporting local businesses in their sales outside Québec.
On these two fronts, the president of IQI, Hubert Bolduc, said he was able to achieve the objectives set for 2022-2023. In terms of FDI in Quebec, the objective of increasing the amount of investments by 50% has practically been achieved. The sum should exceed $5.6 billion in 2022-2023, including the results of partner agencies such as Montréal International.
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Hubert Bolduc, President of Investissement Québec International
During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022, IQI’s prospecting and support activities made it possible to carry out 121 projects and generate a total of $4.6 billion in investments in Quebec.
In terms of exports, the objective is to double the sales outside Quebec of IQI’s client companies, from 1 to 2 billion in firm sales. The goal has already been achieved.
Ultimately, the Legault government wants to increase exports from 15 to 20 billion, an ambitious objective that will become achievable, hopes the big boss of Investissement Québec, Guy Leblanc, once the battery sector is in place, which should be done. in about five years.
IQI brings together 140 people out of the 1,090 workers employed by Investissement Québec, the provincial government’s investor arm. About a hundred additional hires are planned, among other things, in the technological field. IQI is also looking for specialized expertise in private placement.