Legault announces freeze on new temporary foreign workers for low-wage jobs in Montreal

The premier of Quebec has announced a six-month freeze on new temporary foreign workers coming in to work low-wage jobs in the Montreal area, a move he deems necessary to protect the French language and public services. 

François Legault and Christine Fréchette, the province's immigration minister, made the announcement Tuesday morning.

"We saw it in the last few days. We have a teacher shortage, and now we're increasing the number of students by tens of thousands," the premier said, noting that many of those young students are newcomers.

The freeze applies to temporary foreign worker applications for jobs in the Montreal area that have wages below $27.47 per hour, which is the median hourly wage in Quebec.

The six-month freeze will take effect Sept. 3. It will also apply to the renewal of current temporary foreign workers.

There will be exceptions, however. The freeze won't apply to jobs in the fields of health, education, construction, agriculture and food processing.

The measure, according to the premier, should reduce the number of temporary immigrants by 3,500 over the next six months.

"What we're announcing today is a first step. Some would say it's a small step," he said, reiterating his desire for Quebec to get more immigration powers from Ottawa.

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Typically, low-wage temporary foreign workers in Quebec must be approved by the province and have their employer's Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) application approved by the federal Immigration Ministry.

As a result of Quebec's plan, the federal government will suspend the processing of LMIA applications. 

According to the Quebec government, the province currently has 600,000 non-permanent residents, a figure it says has doubled since 2021.

On Tuesday, Legault said those newcomers are making it difficult to provide health and education services and housing. 

He repeated a claim he's often made, that if Quebec hadn't added 300,000 new temporary immigrants in the last few years, the province would not have a housing crisis.

"I know there are people that are shocked when I say this, but it's factual," the premier said. "And what's also important to add is that it compromises the future of the French language, especially in Montreal."

In a statement, federal Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault said Ottawa agreed to suspend the processing of LMIA applications to preserve "the integrity of the temporary foreign worker program, making sure that employers resort to it only when there are no qualified workers already in Canada."

Quebec also plans to table a bill in the fall with the goal of limiting the number of foreign students in the province.

Canada must do more, Legault says

Despite Quebec and Ottawa working together for this initiative, the two sides still appear to be at odds on certain issues related to newcomers.

Out of 600,000 temporary immigrants in Quebec, 180,000 are managed by the province and 420,000 of them are managed by the federal government, Legault said during Tuesday's news conference.

He's asked Ottawa to reduce its number by half, to around 210,000.

"We're not talking about going back to levels from 50 years ago. We're talking about levels from two years ago," said Legault.

While reiterating that need, he took a jab at the federal government.

Jean-Yves Duclos, the federal minister of public services and procurement and Quebec MP, told Radio-Canada that he would've liked to have been invited to Tuesday's news conference.

"We'll invite him when he'll act on the 420,000 [non-permanent residents] that are controlled by the federal government," the premier said.

Premier is 'powerless,' PQ leader says

Opposition parties accused the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government of improvising on measures that ultimately do little to help curb temporary immigration.

Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, the leader of the Parti-Québécois, scoffed at the premier's plan, describing it as surface-level and limited in its impact. 

"What François Legault is doing is throwing ball back to the federal government, and it shows that he's completely overwhelmed with the immigration situation," St-Pierre Plamondon told reporters Tuesday.

"He is powerless when it comes to the federal government."

As far as Québec Solidaire immigration critic Guillaume Cliche-Rivard is concerned, his party has spent the last few months telling the government it needed to slow down temporary immigration, only to be told by the premier that the increase in temporary foreign workers was a positive for the province.

"It is a completely new reaction with the CAQ finally realizing that they have put forward some concrete measures to reduce temporary immigration," Cliche-Rivard told CBC News. "However, I believe the measures put forward are improvised and are not directly linked to what we need here in Quebec."

André A. Morin, the immigration critic for the Quebec Liberal Party, the Official Opposition at the National Assembly, said Legault's announcement is the latest example of the CAQ acting "without planning, without discussions, without exchange with organizations or business partners."