Quebec pilot project gives employers flexibility to hire temporary foreign workers

The federal government has announced an agreement with Quebec to allow new flexibilities for Quebec employers under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

This new initiative is a collaborative effort between the federal government, the Quebec government and partners in the Quebec labour market.

It will allow Quebec employers to benefit from the following measures:

• an increase of 10 to 20 per cent in the maximum number of temporary foreign workers in low-wage positions and employed in certain economic sectors designated by Quebec following a consultation with labour market partners
• an exemption from existing advertising and recruitment requirements for a larger number of occupations, designated by Quebec
• an exemption from the current policy on the refusal to process a Labour Market Impact Assessment application in certain geographic regions designated by Quebec following a consultation with labour market partners

These flexibilities will be part of a pilot project that will run until Dec. 31, 2023. At the pilot’s conclusion, the government will evaluate these measures to help inform its future decisions.

The agreement will also see the implementation by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada of new measures under the International Mobility Program that would allow for an additional 7,000 work permits to be issued annually to holders of a Certificat de sélection du Québec. This will allow the provincial government to give more new immigrants opportunities to contribute and to establish themselves, helping alleviate the workforce shortage, said a news release from Employment and Social Development Canada.