Strong economic growth in Montreal | A remarkable immigrant contribution

There is a lot of talk about immigration these days, and the debate on the thresholds of newcomers that Quebec should or should not welcome given its ability to integrate them well has not finished fueling the discussion so much the points of divergent view. However, one observation emerges: the contribution of immigrants to the economic growth of the greater Montreal region has been essential and even remarkable over the past 10 years.

In a column published last week, I looked at the strong recovery in Montreal’s economic activity based on recent data compiled by Sylvain Giguère, Chief Economist and Head of Economic Development at the Montreal Metropolitan Community ( CMM).

A statistic from Mr. Giguère’s study particularly surprised me, and that is why I preferred to isolate it to come back to it in more detail today, because the phenomenon deserves some attention. .

For the first time in decades, the employment rate of immigrants in the greater Montreal area surpassed that of people born in Canada in 2021, something never seen before.

If we go back to 2006, the employment rate of immigrants was only 53.3%, while that of the Canadian-born was 64.1%, a considerable gap which confirmed the existence of the real difficulty that the labor market had to integrate new arrivals.

At the time, I remember having taken part in several workshops on the employment situation, where the great difficulties faced by immigrants of North African origin and black communities in finding work were discussed, whereas the members of these communities had unemployment rates that were double to three times that of the native-born.

In 2021, we are witnessing a complete reversal of the situation since the employment rate of immigrants in Montreal has supplanted that of “natives”, to stand at 62.1% compared to 61.9%.

Moreover, landed immigrants hold more full-time jobs, what we call quality jobs, compared to part-time jobs, than long-term residents, and have done so for more than five years now.

“For six years, we have seen a marked increase in the employment rate of immigrants, while the active population of people born in Canada is in decline,” notes Sylvain Giguère, who underlines in passing the positive contribution of newcomers to economic vitality. of the greater Montreal area.

Relief workforce

In fact, had it not been for the contribution of newcomers to support its economic activity, Montreal would not have been able to post the growth of its real gross domestic product (GDP) of 24.7% that the city has recorded over the past 10 years.

“From 2010 to 2021, 267,000 net jobs were created in the metropolitan area. During this time, the Canadian-born population was decreasing by 50,000 in the CMA due to demographic aging, and the immigrant population was growing by 267,000. of the economic development of the CMM.

This strong and necessary contribution of newcomers to the economic dynamism of Montreal is also observable on the ground, as confirmed by Marjorie Villefranche, general manager of the Maison d’Haïti, in the Saint-Michel district, reception and referencing for immigrants.

La Maison d’Haïti set up an employability program years ago to support newcomers who have just arrived in Montreal in their efforts to find work.

“The labor shortage is felt here. We get a lot of calls from companies looking for workers. We post positions on our site.

“However, there are negative effects in the lives of single-parent families, where mothers have to work overtime and have less time to devote to childcare,” explains Ms.^me Villefranche.

The Maison d’Haïti receives at least twenty migrants every day who have passed through Roxham Road and who need help to settle in Montreal.

“We help them in their efforts to obtain a work permit, but the delays are so long that many are forced to accept undeclared work. We are trying by all means to dissuade them, but it takes too long, when they could find regular work if they obtained their permit,” laments the director general of the Maison d’Haïti.

With nearly 85% of all newcomers settling in Quebec each year, it is often said that Montreal takes up too many immigrants and that a better distribution of their numbers would enable businesses in the regions to better cope with the shortage of workforce that affects them everywhere in Quebec.

Which may be true, but obviously, Montreal still has a strong capacity to absorb them with more jobs on the line.