Quebec suspends foreign recruitment missions until mid-2025
Freeze is yet another measure aimed at limiting temporary residents in province
The Quebec government has announced it is suspending foreign recruitment missions until mid-2025 — yet another measure aimed at limiting the number of temporary residents in the province.
On Wednesday, the government confirmed the end of its Journées Québec recruitment missions, notably in Europe and Africa, until June 30.
The initiative has led to the recruitment of hundreds of engineers, IT specialists, nurses and teachers to help address labour shortages over the years.
In a post on X, Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge said the decision is aimed at ensuring consistency with the government's plan to reduce the number of temporary residents in the province.
He said that number has more than doubled since 2021, from 300,000 to nearly 600,000.
Roberge pointed to the province's recent efforts to curb this trend, including a six-month freeze for certain temporary foreign worker applications in Montreal, legislation to cap the number of international students in the province and the suspension of two major pathways to permanent residency.
The government is re-evaluating its immigration strategy, with guidelines for a new multi-year plan expected to be unveiled in June. It says the plan will, for the first time, take into account the number of people on temporary work and study permits in Quebec.
"This will also be an opportunity to establish guidelines for responding to the labour needs of Quebec businesses," Roberge said in a post on X.
'Shooting ourselves in the foot'
Already, the series of announcements has upset the business community.
"It's not good for us," said Denis Hamel, strategic advisor to the president of the Conseil du patronat du Québec.
He warned businesses may be forced to close or reduce their activities within six months to a year due to the lack of available workers.
"We need to depoliticize the issue, think things through and assess labour needs," Hamel said.
Montreal Chamber of Commerce president Michel Leblanc agrees that the measures will negatively affect businesses.
"We're shooting ourselves in the foot, undoing something that was highly strategic," he said.
Teachers say initiative never solved staff shortage
According to government data, Quebec has hired around 450 teachers through Journées Québec, including around 100 in Africa, in the span of four years.
Last month, Quebec stopped recruiting nurses from African countries for "ethical" reasons. It says it has also taken this approach to recruiting teachers.
The Ministry of Immigration and Francisation and Integration says it has temporarily suspended its teacher recruitment activities in Cameroon and Ivory Coast, "without, however, preventing those who submit an immigration application, unsolicited by Quebec, from realizing their life project."
Quebec's teachers' unions stress that foreign recruitment has never been a panacea for the labour shortage and that attracting and retaining staff is key.
"Often, the training they have, although related to teaching, is not always completely adapted to what happens in Quebec," said Mélanie Hébert, president of the Fédération autonome de l'enseignement (FAE).
"The relationship with students, the relationship with parents, all these elements vary greatly from one country to another, from one culture to another."
Lori Newton, president of the Montreal Teachers Association, which represents all teachers of the English Montreal School Board, says the EMSB has recruited around 15 teachers in the past couple of years, all from France, who have filled French teaching positions.
"There has not been any impact on English teachers in our system," she said in a statement.
The Ministry of Education says it issues between 600 and 700 notices of conditional eligibility per year to teachers trained outside of Canada.
A Journées Québec recruitment mission will take place in Paris in the coming days — the last one for the foreseeable future.
Translated by Sabrina Jonas, based on reporting by Radio-Canada's Daniel Boily and Davide Gentile