CIMM Committee Report

Bloc Québécois supplementary opinion to the report Immigration Programs to Meet Labour Market Needs

The Bloc Québécois would like to thank the members of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM), House of Commons staff, all the witnesses and the individuals and groups who submitted briefs for their vital participation in the study of the Labour Market Impact Assessment under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

In Quebec, temporary foreign workers solve a problem that has become permanent: the labour shortage. In 2020, nearly 34,000 workers, approximately double the 2017 figure, came to work in our businesses.[1]

The COVID-19 pandemic showed us how much we depend on these workers. As borders closed around the world, food insecurity became an immediate issue. Farmers across Quebec cried out for help: because of the labour shortage, crops died in the fields and livestock had to be disposed of.

Businesses in other sectors also sounded the alarm. Short on staff, they lost contracts and had to pay late penalties because they couldn’t deliver on time. In every industry and in every region of Quebec, 94% of businesses reported struggling to find new workers.[2] With half of all businesses having to turn down contracts because of the labour shortage,[3] it is simply unbelievable that Ottawa let thousands of applications sit on the shelf while Quebec was only asking that its levels be met.

Employers were the first to pay the price for the Department of Immigration’s slowness—indeed standstill—in processing work permits. Many had to pay Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) fees, but the requested work permits simply weren’t processed on time. The workers didn’t arrive, and the money spent on the LMIAs went up in smoke. This situation has unfortunately become commonplace, even though employers anticipate their labour needs years in advance.

The federal government’s mismanagement of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program puts at risk businesses’ survival and a successful economic recovery that is crucial after a very challenging year. Businesses should be able to take full advantage of this particular economic climate without being dragged down by the bureaucratic delays of a country they are working to put back on its feet. Many industries in Quebec were facing a labour shortage long before the pandemic, and the federal government did such a poor job at damage control that the problem has grown.

The report Immigration Programs to Meet Labour Market Needs puts forward useful solutions to make the Temporary Foreign Worker Program more flexible, more transparent and more efficient. We’re pleased that all parties in the House of Commons want to improve the immigration component of this program. The Bloc Québécois welcomes the recommendations in the CIMM report and strongly hopes that the government will implement them soon.

However, for Quebec, the real solution is a complete transfer of the foreign worker program to Quebec. Foreign workers are too important to the Quebec economy, and Ottawa has clearly failed to manage this program. Quebec knows firsthand how to identify the specific labour needs of businesses operating within its borders, and the needs of its various regions in particular. Moreover, the fact that the program is doubly managed by both levels of government leads to higher processing costs and longer delays.

Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet is calling for the program to be handed over to Quebec, and it is a priority for his government. The Bloc Québécois supports this legitimate request. Since the federal government cannot process applications within a reasonable timeframe, it must hand the Temporary Foreign Worker Program over to Quebec.

While the Bloc Québécois reiterates its support for the CIMM report, it calls on the Department of Immigration to begin discussions with the Quebec government immediately so that the program can be managed by Quebec. Until that happens, the Bloc Québécois joins other CIMM members in calling for a rapid implementation of the recommendations in the report Immigration Programs to Meet Labour Market Needs.