Measure aims to ease housing-related pressure in the city
Quebec premier Francois Legault has announced a six-month hiring freeze for specific temporary foreign worker applications in Montreal, aiming to put pressure on Ottawa to cut the number of non-permanent residents in the province.
The Coalition Avenir Québec government also hopes to file a bill that will empower the provincial government to limit the number of international students entering certain schools in the area.
Legault described the two measures as a “first step” to relieve pressure on housing, education, and health care, as well as helping protect the French language in the city.
"We have an obligation to reduce the number of temporary immigrants to protect our public services,” he said.
The premier said the new moratorium, which will be effective on September 3, will “make a very small dent in [the] number” of temporary residents arriving in Quebec, since the federal government is responsible for two-thirds of temporary immigrants now living and working in the province.
This includes asylum seekers, he said. Legault estimated that by the end of six months, January 2025, there would be 3,500 fewer temporary foreign workers in Montreal.
A surge in the number of temporary immigrants in the province – from 300,000 to 600,000 in the last two years – was described by Legault as a “real explosion.”
As of now, there are about 180,000 non-permanent residents under Quebec's jurisdiction, the majority of which are international students. The premier said the moratorium would apply to new applications and renewals, but people working in education, health care, construction, agriculture, food processing, and those making at least $57,000 a year, Quebec's median salary, are exempted.
The Quebec government also pressures Ottawa to cut the population of non-permanent residents in the province under federal jurisdiction by half.
Currently, 420,000 non-permanent residents in the province are under federal jurisdiction. Legault said he “hopes [the recent] announcement will prove to the federal government that Quebec is doing its part.”
"I think we have to show an example because we're putting [a] lot of pressure since almost a year on (Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau," he stated. “It's urgent that the federal government act quickly.”
Legault said his government’s bid to cap the number of international students in the province was aimed at curbing “abuses” at some institutions.
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