Although Quebec Has Much Hate Towards Non French Speaking Immigrants, But Welcoming New Immigrants To Address Labor Shortage

Quebec’s immigration department recently conducted a general draw through the Regular Skilled Worker Program in September, which they have never done before.

The draw conducted on September 8 did not require a job invitation inside or outside Montreal, and it as well did not target any list of professions  Simply, it was dependent on the scores if a candidate was in the Arrima Expression of Interest pool with a score of 620 points or higher, they received an invitation, which was out 1,202 invitations.

This has happened for the first time since the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI) started issuing invitations in July 2019.

Taking into account the province, as it is in the grip of a chronic labour shortage, which was also worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic, this lack of invitations is considerable in itself.

But it also gives clear information to immigration candidates considering Quebec: if someone does not have skills and experience in a narrow list of occupations, then you will possibly require a job offer to qualify for the invitation. 

From July 4, 2019, till today, Quebec has conducted 35, and out of 35, 34 of them have requirements that the candidates must either have a job offer or should meet occupation requirements. However, earlier invitations were sent to candidates who had applied on a first-come, first-served basis.

It implies that a highly skilled worker of actual worth to the Quebec economy, who seems not to be on the list of target professions, will sit in the Arima pool and wait for an invitation.

This thing is there for skilled workers until they secure a skilled job offer from a Quebec employer, and tons of those are accessible.

According to Statistics, Canada’s current job figures for July 2022 show 246,300 vacancies in Quebec, which is the second highest of any province behind Ontario’s 360,500. The main difference is that Ontario accepts thousands of Express Entry immigrants, while Quebec operates its economic system for beginners.

The primary way to enter Quebec is through conducting draws for the Regular Skilled Worker Program.

In May, Quebec announced that it was going to welcome up to 71,275 new permanent residents the following year, which will be more than 41.7 per cent as compared to last year’s 50,285. That was suggested to make up for immigrants who were helpless to come to the province cause of the pandemic.

Still, the regulating Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ), established to keep power after Monday’s provincial election, announces that this number will be cut down to the 50,000 range by next year. This is happening despite getting calls from businesses throughout the province to increase immigration to make up for labour shortages. 

However, if we look towards another side of the story,  Quebec Premier Francois Legault, who is supported to win next week’s regional election, told on Wednesday it could be “suicidal” for the mainly French-speaking province to add immigrants without even taking into account their French-speaking ability. 

He also added “We should stop the decline,” of the French language, Legault, who is the leader of the centre-right Coalition Avenir Quebec party, to reporters at the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal. If the province expanded more immigrants without recognizing language, “then that’s a bit suicidal” according to him.

Numerous times during the news conference, Legault named increasing immigration as “suicidal” for Quebec.

Legault, a former airline executive, who is 65, swept the CAQ to power for the first time in 2018 with vows to cut on non-French speaking immigration and preserve the French language in an English-dominated North America.

The party Legault is projected to win 98 seats in a 125-member house, which makes them ahead of the other parties like Liberals, Parti Quebecois (PQ), Conservatives and left-leaning Quebec Solidaire, which as per election projection site qc125.com.

As discussed earlier, Legault promised this year to keep annual immigration limited to 50,000 immigrants. His administration brought some difficult changes in a bill mandating, among other things, all new immigrants will receive most government services in French after staying for six months in the province. Some employers have stated that this might cause difficulty in attracting talent.

And that indicates to us that the quickest way to get to Canada through Quebec is to have a valid job offer. Quebec is Canada’s second-most populous province and has been carrying in a declining share of Canada’s new permanent residents annually, depending instead on temporary residents.

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Maryam

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