Press release
QFL reaction to the pause in permanent immigration

Montreal, October 31, 2024 The Quebec Federation of Labour (QFL) reiterates the importance of relying on permanent immigration to fill permanent labour needs, and of urgently building bridges to permanent immigration for temporary foreign workers in the country.

“We’re worried that temporary workers will remain in a precarious situation while Quebec takes the time to reflect. We can’t continue to count on an influx of temporary workers vulnerable to exploitation and abuse because of closed permits. This must stop,” says QFL General Secretary Denis Bolduc.

For the QFL, the pause in permanent immigration programs comes at a time when Quebec’s new regulations include a mechanism for permanently welcoming “manual and intermediate” workers, which would have provided a gateway for temporary foreign workers.

Ottawa’s announcements, which impose limits on certain temporary immigration programs, will prevent thousands of migrant workers already in the country from renewing their work permits when they expire. “There is every reason to fear that some of these workers will choose to remain on the territory without status, exposing them to even greater precariousness and vulnerability. To address these issues, the QFL is calling on the Quebec government to put in place, as a matter of urgency, transitional measures enabling migrant workers on the territory to obtain permanent status and thus avoid deportation,” adds the General Secretary.

Quebec’s announcement, however, goes in the opposite direction: freezing programs that enable permanent status to be obtained and keeping temporary workers in a state of uncertainty and precariousness. “What’s more, the cuts to francization programs target temporary workers, even though they are required to know French to obtain permanent status. When will the government stop treating foreign workers like disposable labor?” concludes Denis Bolduc.

The QFL intends to take part in the consultations on immigration planning, which have been brought forward to spring 2025, to call for the abolition of closed permits and to demand that permanent labour needs be met through access to permanent immigration, not through programs that confine migrant workers to precarious employment.

The QFL approves of the intention to include temporary immigration in immigration planning, which was one of its demands during the last public consultations.

Source : QFL

Jean Laverdière

Phone : 514 893-7809

E-mail : jlaverdiere@ftq.qc.ca