The issuance of permits for temporary foreign workers will be suspended for six months in the greater Montreal area starting September 3. Also, a bill will be tabled this fall to limit the number of foreign students in educational establishments.
This was announced at a press conference Tuesday morning in the city by the Premier of Quebec, François Legault, and the Minister of Immigration, Christine Fréchette.
This temporary freeze only affects temporary foreign workers who earn less than $57,000 per year and who want to settle in the Montreal region. Those who work in health, education, construction, agriculture and food processing will benefit from an exemption.
At a press conference, François Legault also said that the limits on foreign students will be the subject of a bill at the start of the parliamentary session this fall. He justified this by the fact that he does not have the legal means at his disposal to limit the volumes per institution and to put an end to “abuses” in some of them, without elaborating on the abuses to which he refers.
All this, said Mr. Legault, “to protect our public services” and the French language.
At a press conference, the Prime Minister stressed that over the past two years, in Quebec, “we have gone from 300,000 temporary immigrants to 600,000,” which is creating immense pressure in health, education and housing, among other things.
Mr. Legault said little about the upcoming bill to limit the number of international students, but he indicated that he will propose limits by institution. Asked to what extent English-language universities would be affected, Mr. Legault said we would have to wait until the bill is tabled to learn more, “given that discussions are still ongoing” on those terms.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Francois Legault
Given that several regional CEGEPs, in particular, depend on the influx of foreign students to stay open, should they be worried? “I want to reassure” these institutions, he said, adding that “there is no question of closing classes.”
In its standoff with Ottawa, Quebec has often been singled out, as it itself welcomes many temporary immigrants. Premier Legault stressed that today’s announcements responded to these arguments.
“There are 120,000 foreign students and to be able to act, we need a bill. That leaves the 60,000 [travailleurs étrangers dépendant des programmes québécois]. » If there is a moratorium coming for workers and it affects Montreal, it is to “change the reflex of companies, particularly in Montreal, to recruit internationally, because the situation has changed.”
What has changed in particular is that the unemployment rate, particularly among young people in Montreal, does not justify, in Mr. Legault’s eyes, that labour is not sought first in the metropolis.
As for the $57,000 limit, it represents the median salary in Montreal.
Minister Fréchette also raised the issue of asylum seekers, which, according to Quebec, remains unresolved. “Quebec represents 22% of Canada’s demographic weight. It is abnormal that we have received 50% of asylum seekers.”
On this theme, Mr. Legault went further, believing that this share of asylum seekers “is not fair.” “It hurts our public services, it hurts our housing, it hurts the future of French.”
Generally speaking, Mr. Legault believes that “as the responsible leader of the only state that represents a majority of French speakers, I have the responsibility, particularly in Montreal, to reduce the number of immigrants.”