Les exigences en français pour les travailleurs temporaires se font attendre, Requirements in French for temporary workers are long overdue

2024/08/29 Leave a comment

A noter. Another government having implementation issues:

Le gouvernement de François Legault, qui avait annoncé en novembre 2023 ses intentions d’exiger une connaissance minimale du français chez les travailleurs temporaires, n’a toujours pas déposé le règlement qui le lui permettra.

Le cabinet de la ministre de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration, Christine Fréchette, a confirmé mardi au Devoir ne pas avoir encore déposé les modifications réglementaires nécessaires à l’imposition de nouvelles exigences en français pour les quelque 60 000 immigrants du Programme des travailleurs étrangers temporaires (PTET) actuellement sur le territoire québécois. Un projet de règlement sera déposé « cet automne », a-t-on assuré.

Sur son site Web, vendredi, la Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) s’était pourtant félicitée d’avoir posé « de nombreuses actions importantes […] pour mieux réguler l’immigration temporaire » depuis son arrivée au pouvoir. Parmi celles-ci : avoir « exigé la connaissance du français pour renouveler les permis de travail temporaires ».

Cela fait près de dix mois que le premier ministre, François Legault, a officialisé, en conférence de presse à Québec, ses intentions de rendre le renouvellement d’un permis de travail conditionnel à la maîtrise de la langue française.

À l’époque, la ministre Fréchette avait affirmé que les travailleurs du PTET — à l’exception de ceux qui travaillent dans les champs — devraient bientôt démontrer une connaissance de la langue de niveau quatre, c’est-à-dire être capables de « discuter avec leur entourage » de « sujets familiers ». Le gouvernement de Justin Trudeau a depuis emboîté le pas à Québec, en promettant d’appliquer les mêmes exigences aux immigrants inscrits au programme fédéral de mobilité internationale (PMI).

Après plusieurs questions du Devoir, mardi, le cabinet de la ministre de l’Immigration a finalement indiqué qu’il procéderait à la « prépublication du règlement cet automne », avec pour objectif que celui-ci entre en vigueur au cours de l’année 2025. Aucune explication n’a été fournie pour les retards constatés depuis près d’un an.

« Improvisation »

En entrevue, le porte-parole du Parti libéral du Québec (PLQ) en matière d’immigration, André A. Morin, a cependant accusé le gouvernement d’avoir « improvisé » dans le dossier. « C’est toujours le même problème avec la CAQ : des grosses annonces, puis après ça, il n’arrive rien », a-t-il déploré à l’autre bout du fil. « Pour moi, c’est un autre exemple du manque de planification et du manque de contrôle de la CAQ, que ce soit dans le domaine de l’immigration, de la francisation ou de l’intégration. »

Quoiqu’exaspéré, M. Morin se dit peu surpris d’apprendre que la mesure caquiste n’a toujours pas été mise en application. Il se permet d’ailleurs une hypothèse pour l’expliquer : « En matière de francisation, le gouvernement, actuellement, est incapable de répondre à la demande », a-t-il observé, mardi. « Il y a des gens que je connais qui veulent suivre des cours, mais qui ne sont pas appelés. »

Dans son rapport annuel déposé en mai, le commissaire à la langue française, Benoît Dubreuil, avait constaté d’importants retards dans l’offre de service chez Francisation Québec. À l’époque, la moitié des demandeurs attendaient toujours de suivre leur premier cours.

Interrogé mardi, le député de Québec solidaire Guillaume Cliche-Rivard a lui aussi raillé les retards du gouvernement en la matière. « Les bottines de la CAQ ne suivent pas les babines pour la protection du français », a-t-il affirmé dans une déclaration écrite.

« Ça fait des mois que les échecs de Francisation Québec font la manchette et que les travailleurs immigrants font la file pour apprendre le français. Protéger le français, ça ne passe pas seulement par des exigences, mais aussi par des résultats positifs en francisation », a-t-il lancé.

« La CAQ se vante d’être le parti qui en a le plus fait pour l’immigration francophone. Déjà qu’elle n’imposait qu’un niveau 4 aux travailleurs du PTET, on apprend que le règlement qui devait mettre cela en oeuvre n’a pas encore été déposé », a pour sa part dénoncé le porte-parole du Parti québécois en matière de langue française, Pascal Bérubé.

Son parti, a-t-il rappelé, doit déposer cet automne « un plan de réduction des immigrants temporaires afin de diminuer la pression sur le français, notamment ».

Source: Les exigences en français pour les travailleurs temporaires se font attendre

Computer translation

The government of François Legault, which had announced in November 2023 its intentions to require a minimum knowledge of French among temporary workers, has still not filed the regulation that will allow it.

The office of the Minister of Immigration, Francisation and Integration, Christine Fréchette, confirmed Tuesday to Le Devoir that she had not yet filed the regulatory amendments necessary to impose new requirements in French for the approximately 60,000 immigrants of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (PTET) currently in Quebec territory. A draft regulation will be tabled “this fall,” it was assured.

On its website on Friday, the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) was pleased to have taken “many important actions […] to better regulate temporary immigration” since it came to power. Among these: having “required knowledge of French to renew temporary work permits”.

It has been almost ten months since the Prime Minister, François Legault, formalized, at a press conference in Quebec City, his intentions to renew a conditional work permit to master the French language.

At the time, Minister Fréchette had said that PTET workers – with the exception of those who work in the fields – should soon demonstrate a knowledge of the language of level four, that is, be able to “discuss with those around them” about “familiar subjects”. Justin Trudeau’s government has since followed in the footsteps of Quebec City, promising to apply the same requirements to immigrants enrolled in the federal International Mobility Program (PMI).

After several questions of the Duty, on Tuesday, the office of the Minister of Immigration finally indicated that it would proceed with the “pre-publication of the regulation this fall”, with the aim of it entering into force during the year 2025. No explanation has been provided for the delays noted for almost a year.

“Improvisation”

In an interview, the spokesperson for the Parti libéral du Québec (PLQ) on immigration, André A. Morin, however, accused the government of having “improvised” in the file. “It’s always the same problem with the CAQ: big announcements, then after that, nothing happens,” he lamented on the other end of the line. “For me, this is another example of the lack of planning and lack of control of the CAQ, whether in the field of immigration, francization or integration. ”

Although exasperated, Mr. Morin says he is not surprised to learn that the Caquist measure has still not been implemented. He also allows himself a hypothesis to explain it: “In terms of francization, the government is currently unable to respond to demand,” he observed on Tuesday. “There are people I know who want to take classes, but who are not called. ”

In his annual report submitted in May, the Commissioner for the French Language, Benoît Dubreuil, noted significant delays in the service offer at Francisation Québec. At the time, half of the applicants were still waiting to take their first course.

Asked on Tuesday, Québec solidaire MP Guillaume Cliche-Rivard also mocked the government’s delays in this regard. “The boots of the CAQ do not follow the babines for the protection of French,” he said in a written statement.

“The failures of Francisation Québec have been making headlines for months and immigrant workers have been queueing to learn French. Protecting French requires not only requirements, but also positive results in francization, “he said.

“The CAQ boasts of being the party that has done the most for Francophone immigration. Already that it imposed only level 4 on PTET workers, we learn that the regulation that was supposed to implement this has not yet been tabled, “denounced the spokesman for the French-language Party of the Quebec Party, Pascal Bérubé.

His party, he recalled, must submit this fall “a plan to reduce temporary immigrants in order to reduce the pressure on French, in particular”.

Filed under Immigration Tagged with , ,

Anti-hate initiatives have not been able to stop the surge in crimes

2024/08/28 Leave a comment

My latest:

Police-reported hate crimes keep rising in Canada, no matter which party is governing, and no matter what initiatives have been used to combat the problem. Hate crimes rose 39 per cent between 2008-15, when the Conservatives were in government. But they soared by 239 per cent between 2016-23 with the Liberals in power.  

The true numbers are higher yet, no doubt. Black and Muslim Canadians can be more reluctant than other groups to report hate crimes. We know there is under-reporting. But the rise also reflects a lessening reluctance among others to report such incidents. The latest numbers are some of the most reliable data available. 

The rise comes in an era of high-profile hate crimes including the 2017 Quebec City mosque killings, a spike in incidents against synagogues and Jewish institutions, anti-Asian sentiment during the COVID-19 pandemic and the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020 in Minneapolis.  

The sharp rise has also come despite increased funding for multiculturalism and anti-racism programs under the federal Liberals. The apparent lack of impact of the initiatives does not bode well for their continuation in the years to come.   

Anti-Asian sentiment and the pandemic  

East or Southeast Asians report the greatest increase, as table 1 shows. What is striking is the rise in incidents relative to their share of the population, likely a reflection of the impact and discourse around the pandemic, which sparked anti-Asian sentiment.  

https://e.infogram.com/9eb8007d-6f46-439a-acef-9606167a2a1c?parent_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpolicyoptions.irpp.org%2Fmagazines%2Faugust-2024%2Fhate-crime-policies%2F&src=embed#async_embed

The increase in incidents reported by Black Canadians might reflect a greater willingness to report such crimes after the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. An increase in reporting among Indigenous Peoples could reflect the aftermath of the 2012 Idle No More protests. These increases might also reflect a backlash against some of these activist movements. And the corrosive language used by Donald Trump has also increased prejudiceamong his supporters and contributed to increasingly divisive politics in the U.S. with some spillover effects in Canadian discourse.  

The number of reported incidents increased sharply in 2023 for both Jews and Muslims, reflecting the Israel-Hamas conflict and the related protests in Canada (table 2). The large number of antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel demonstrations is reflected in the higher rate per 100,000 among Jews, although the overall increase has been greater for Muslims. 

https://e.infogram.com/32874b76-8a91-4d84-bbd7-d2d6cf17b662?parent_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpolicyoptions.irpp.org%2Fmagazines%2Faugust-2024%2Fhate-crime-policies%2F&src=embed#async_embed

Anti-racism initiatives 

In the years between 2008-15, the Conservative government hollowed out the federal multiculturalism program after transferring it to then-Citizenship and Immigration Canada.  

Over the ensuing years (2016-23), the Liberals reversed the move, returning the program to Canadian Heritage. They also doubled funding to $36 million, brought in Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy 2019-22 and created a Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat.  

Through all this, reported hate crimes have surged. 

Limited outcomes were revealed in the evaluation of the Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Program and Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy, 2017-18 to 2021-22. Weak reporting of results and a lack of performance data were also highlighted.  

The extent to which Canadian Heritage has implemented these recommendations is unclear. Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy 2024-2028 includes recommendations to improve performance reporting in response to these weaknesses. 

Effective outcome and results reporting is particularly challenging for programs like multiculturalism and anti-racism.  

Societal and group relations are complex. Combatting hate crimes involves the reinforcement of social norms against hate and discrimination. Political, business and civil-society leaders play more of a role than government programs. 

The highlighted weaknesses of the federal programs will make it easy for the Conservatives to reverse or severely cut funding if the party is elected next year, a likely outcome. 

Significant or effective pushback is unlikely apart from advocacy organizations that receive government funding. 

Methodological note: Data was taken from the annual police-reported hate crimes reports by Statistics Canada. For the per-capita rates, the year prior to the census was used, e.g., 2010 for the 2011 National Household Survey, and 2020 for the 2021 census (religious affiliation is only counted in the census every 10 years). 

Source: Anti-hate initiatives have not been able to stop the surge in crimes

Filed under Hate crimes, Multiculturalism Tagged with ,

Worswick: Ottawa needs to abolish the temporary foreign worker program

2024/08/28 Leave a comment

Worth consideration:

…While these statements, at first glance, may seem at odds, there are valid economic reasons to be in favour of skilled (permanent) immigration but opposed to less-skilled temporary foreign worker programs.

We must therefore redesign our international migration policies. Ottawa’s announcement on Monday to further restrict the temporary foreign worker (TFW)program is a step in the right direction but not enough. Canada needs to go further and abolish the program.

We need to quickly phase out the low-skill stream of the TFW program, which the government has expanded to let companies fill perceived labour shortages. Then we should merge the higher-skill part of the program into our economic immigration program.

This would retain the advantages of the TFW program for higher-skilled workers, which is that it provides for a trial period for prospective immigrants. It would also ensure the temporary foreign workers are admitted in line with the goals of the economic immigration program: that they have high-enough skills to become immigrants whose presence greatly benefits the Canadian economy.

This must be done to reverse a long-standing, concerning trend. With support from the provinces and the business lobby, the federal government has greatly increased the numbers of immigrants and the number of temporary foreign workers coming to Canada, with 2022 levels that are more than 50 per cent higher than the 2017 levels in each case (according to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration). Given that these remarkable increases have coincided with both a health care crisis and a housing crisis, it naturally raises the issue of redesigning our international migration programs….

Source: Ottawa needs to abolish the temporary foreign worker program

Filed under Immigration Tagged with ,

Ottawa resserre davantage que Québec le recours aux travailleurs temporaires à bas salaire

2024/08/28 Leave a comment

Quebec comparison:

Ottawa va resserrer l’accès aux travailleurs étrangers temporaires à bas salaire davantage que Québec. Le premier ministre Justin Trudeau a annoncé trois changements en ce sens lundi matin, en marge de la retraite du cabinet fédéral, qui constituent un retour aux règles d’avant la pandémie.

Cette annonce suit celle faite par le premier ministre François Legault la semaine dernière, mais elle couvre plus large, tant géographiquement que pour les plafonds dans chaque industrie.

Québec va geler pour six mois l’accès au Programme des travailleurs étrangers temporaires (PTET) dès le 3 septembre, mais seulement pour l’île de Montréal. Les resserrements d’Ottawa entreront quant à eux en vigueur le 26 septembre et s’ajoutent à ceux déjà annoncés le printemps dernier, a évalué plus tard en matinée le ministre de l’Emploi, Randy Boissonnault.

Les mesures fédérales vont s’appliquer sans une fin déterminée : la révision du programme continue, précise plutôt le cabinet du ministre.

Les grands secteurs exemptés du resserrement fédéral seront les mêmes que ceux choisis par Québec : construction, santé, transformation alimentaire et du poisson. L’agriculture fait l’objet d’un autre volet du programme, et elle est donc également exclue.

Le « bas salaire » est défini par province selon le salaire médian, et est fixé à 27,47 $ l’heure pour le Québec.

Selon le taux de chômage

Les assouplissements ayant suivi la pandémie ont bien servi la communauté d’affaires, mais « l’économie d’aujourd’hui est différente », a dit M. Trudeau, citant l’inflation qui diminue et le chômage qui augmente.

C’est d’ailleurs le taux de chômage qui servira à déterminer les zones métropolitaines qui ne pourront plus participer au programme. Le gouvernement du Canada refusera de traiter les études d’impact sur le marché du travail (EIMT), la première étape pour les entreprises qui embauchent à l’étranger, qui concernent les villes où le taux de chômage est de 6 % ou plus.

D’après ce critère, et selon le taux de chômage au 1er juillet 2024, les villes de Laval et de Gatineau seraient exclues du programme, mais Québec ne les a pas mentionnées dans son annonce.

« Nous n’avons plus besoin d’autant de travailleurs étrangers temporaires. Nous avons besoin d’entreprises qui investissent dans la formation et les technologies, pas qui augmentent leur dépendance à une main-d’oeuvre à bas coût », a déclaré le premier ministre Trudeau. Il est temps d’investir dans les travailleurs canadiens, a-t-il rétorqué à « ceux qui se plaignent de la pénurie de main-d’oeuvre ».

C’est l’une des « pièces du casse-tête » pour faire passer de 7 % à 5 % la proportion totale d’immigrants temporaires par rapport à la population, a quant à lui déclaré le ministre de l’Immigration, Marc Miller, lors d’un point de presse tenu avec deux autres ministres, dont M. Boissonnault. D’autres mesures restent à annoncer, ont-ils précisé.

Cette proportion est d’environ 6,6 % au Québec, ce qui représente 597 000 immigrants temporaires, selon les dernières estimations de Statistique Canada.

Des plafonds différents

Le deuxième changement important constitue un autre retour en arrière : les employeurs pourront embaucher jusqu’à 10 % de leur effectif total dans le cadre du programme, comme c’était le cas de 2014 à 2022. La limite actuelle est de 20 % dans la plupart des industries.

La santé et l’agriculture ne connaissent pas de plafond à l’échelle du Canada.

Au Québec, les secteurs de la fabrication de produits en bois, de meubles et de produits connexes ainsi que les services d’hébergement et de restauration sont encore affichés à 30 % en raison de certaines exemptions.

Il y a en outre 267 professions exemptées de ces plafonds dans la province, dont une partie sont à bas salaire. Cette liste de professions s’est élargie dans les dernières années, à la demande du gouvernement Legault. L’an dernier, en dehors de l’agriculture, ce sont 63 % des dossiers de travailleurs temporaires au Québec qui sont passés par ce traitement simplifié, sans que le poste soit d’abord affiché pour les travailleurs locaux.

Le cabinet de M. Boissonnault a néanmoins confirmé que les changements s’appliqueraient au Québec, tout en disant vouloir « travailler en étroite collaboration avec le gouvernement du Québec ».

Enfin, le dernier changement annoncé lundi concerne la durée maximale d’emploi, qui passera de deux ans à un an à l’échelle du Canada.

D’autres mesures demandées

Le volet des postes à haut salaire du même programme est aussi sous la loupe du gouvernement, dans le cadre d’un examen général accéléré qui va durer 90 jours. Le cabinet discutera du nombre de résidents permanents et des possibilités d’adapter les cibles, a aussi avancé le premier ministre Trudeau.

« Le fédéral suit l’exemple de notre gouvernement, soit de réduire le nombre de travailleurs étrangers temporaires là où de la main-d’oeuvre est disponible », a quant à elle écrit sur X la ministre provinciale de l’Immigration, Christine Fréchette.

Comme la semaine dernière, elle a exhorté Ottawa à agir sur les autres résidents non permanents, en particulier sur l’autre grand programme de travail temporaire, le Programme de mobilité internationale.

Ce retour aux règles prépandémiques n’est pas sans rappeler la réforme de 2014 du même programme de travailleurs étrangers temporaires. Le fédéral déplorait alors qu’un programme de « dernier recours » n’eût pas connu assez de limites et que certains employeurs aient, « au fil du temps, bâti leur modèle d’entreprise en fonction du [PTET] ».

Dominer l’ordre du jour

Pour Catherine Xhardez, professeure de science politique à l’Université de Montréal, ce n’est pas un hasard si les deux ordres de gouvernement agissent sur les mêmes « rouages » : « Ce sont comme des boulons qu’on peut resserrer. Et c’est le PTET qui en a le plus, même s’il y a des forces contraires sur la question à savoir si on veut les resserrer ou non. »

Le gouvernement est « sous pression populaire et économique », décrit-elle, et veut montrer qu’il agit, tant à Québec qu’à Ottawa. Les deux « jouent sur ce qu’ils peuvent », le levier étant toujours les EIMT. « C’est sûr qu’il y a un effet de communication, de vouloir se mettre à l’agenda pour montrer qui avance en premier », analyse la politologue.

Les autorités ont desserré ces rouages de l’immigration temporaire durant la pandémie, tant pour relancer l’économie que pour rattraper la baisse migratoire des années 2020 à 2022. Toutefois, c’est une addition de petites mesures, « sans vision globale », qui ont été mises en places, « sans qu’on se rende compte à quel point les chiffres étaient importants », voit-elle. Il y a bel et bien eu « un recours massif pas toujours très raisonné », selon elle.

L’immigration a contribué à relancer l’économie, ont souligné MM. Boissonnault et Miller en conférence de presse. La réplique viendra donc rapidement d’un acteur important de la politique d’immigration, souligne Mme Xhardez : les employeurs.

Les employeurs catastrophés

Le Conseil du patronat du Québec (CPQ) n’a en effet pas tardé à réagir à cette nouvelle annonce, à l’image du mécontentement affiché la semaine dernière. « Une nouvelle tuile s’abat sur les entreprises cette semaine. Elles auront peu de temps pour s’adapter, car les changements annoncés entreront en vigueur d’ici un mois », a déclaré Karl Blackburn, président et chef de la direction du CPQ.

Les dernières prévisions économiques étant « optimistes », dit-il, la demande en travailleurs pourrait repartir à la hausse. Ce programme n’est qu’un « dernier recours », à cause de la « paperasse et des procédures » qu’il représente, indique-t-il.

Le CPQ propose par ailleurs qu’on « facilite le maillage avec les entreprises » pour développer des compétences correspondant au marché du travail, notamment celles des demandeurs d’asile.

Source: Ottawa resserre davantage que Québec le recours aux travailleurs temporaires à bas salaire

Computer translation:

Ottawa will tighten access to low-wage temporary foreign workers more than Quebec. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced three changes in this direction on Monday morning, on the sidelines of the retirement of the federal cabinet, which constitute a return to pre-pandemic rules.

This announcement follows the one made by Prime Minister François Legault last week, but it covers more widely, both geographically and for the ceilings in each industry.

Quebec City will freeze access to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (PTET) for six months as of September 3, but only for the island of Montreal. The Ottawa tightening will take effect on September 26 and are in addition to those already announced last spring, assessed Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault later in the morning.

Federal measures will apply without a specific purpose: the revision of the program continues, says the Minister’s office instead.

The major sectors exempted from federal tightening will be the same as those chosen by Quebec: construction, health, food processing and fish. Agriculture is the subject of another part of the program, and it is therefore also excluded.

The “low salary” is defined by province according to the median salary, and is set at $27.47 per hour for Quebec.

According to the unemployment rate

The relaxations that followed the pandemic have served the business community well, but “today’s economy is different,” said Mr. Trudeau, citing declining inflation and rising unemployment.

It is also the unemployment rate that will be used to determine the metropolitan areas that will no longer be able to participate in the program. The Government of Canada will refuse to deal with labour market impact studies (LMIAs), the first step for companies that hire abroad, which concern cities where the unemployment rate is 6% or more.

According to this criterion, and according to the unemployment rate as of July 1, 2024, the cities of Laval and Gatineau would be excluded from the program, but Quebec did not mention them in its announcement.

“We no longer need so many temporary foreign workers. We need companies that invest in training and technology, not that increase their dependence on a low-cost workforce, “said Prime Minister Trudeau. It’s time to invest in Canadian workers, he replied to “those who complain about the shortage of labor”.

This is one of the “pieces of the puzzle” to increase the total proportion of temporary immigrants in relation to the population from 7% to 5%, said Immigration Minister Marc Miller at a press briefing with two other ministers, including Mr. Boissonnault. Other measures remain to be announced, they said.

This proportion is about 6.6% in Quebec, which represents 597,000 temporary immigrants, according to the latest estimates by Statistics Canada.

Different ceilings

The second important change is another step backwards: employers will be able to hire up to 10% of their total workforce under the program, as was the case from 2014 to 2022. The current limit is 20% in most industries.

Health and agriculture do not have a ceiling across Canada.

In Quebec, the manufacturing of wood products, furniture and related products as well as accommodation and catering services are still displayed at 30% due to certain exemptions.

There are also 267 professions exempt from these ceilings in the province, some of which are low-wage. This list of professions has expanded in recent years, at the request of the Legault government. Last year, outside agriculture, 63% of temporary worker files in Quebec went through this simplified treatment, without the position being first posted for local workers.

The office of Mr. Boissonnault nevertheless confirmed that the changes would apply to Quebec, while saying he wanted to “work closely with the government of Quebec”.

Finally, the last change announced on Monday concerns the maximum duration of employment, which will increase from two years to one year across Canada.

Other measures requested

The high-wage positions part of the same program is also under the government’s scrutiny, as part of an accelerated general review that will last 90 days. The cabinet will discuss the number of permanent residents and the possibilities of adapting the targets, Prime Minister Trudeau also said.

“The federal government is following the example of our government, namely to reduce the number of temporary foreign workers where manpower is available,” Provincial Immigration Minister Christine Fréchette wrote on X.

Like last week, she urged Ottawa to take action on other non-permanent residents, in particular on the other major temporary work program, the International Mobility Program.

This return to pre-pandemic rules is reminiscent of the 2014 reform of the same temporary foreign workers program. The federal government then deplored that a “last resort” program had not known enough limits and that some employers have, “over time, built their business model according to the [PTET]”.

Dominate the agenda

For Catherine Xhardez, professor of political science at the Université de Montréal, it is no coincidence that the two levels of government act on the same “cogs”: “They are like bolts that can be tightened. And it is the PTET that has the most, even if there are opposing forces on the question of whether we want to tighten them or not. ”

The government is “under popular and economic pressure,” she describes, and wants to show that it is acting, both in Quebec City and Ottawa. The two “play on what they can”, the lever is always the LMIAs. “It is certain that there is a communication effect, of wanting to put yourself on the agenda to show who advances first,” analyzes the political scientist.

The authorities loosened these workings of temporary immigration during the pandemic, both to revive the economy and to make up for the decline in migration from 2020 to 2022. However, it is an addition of small measures, “without a global vision”, that have been put in place, “without us realizing how important the figures were,” she sees. There was indeed “a massive recourse not always very reasoned”, according to her.

Immigration has helped to revive the economy, stressed Mess. Boissonnault and Miller at a press conference. The reply will therefore quickly come from an important player in immigration policy, stresses Ms. Xhardez: employers.

Employers devastated

The Conseil du patronat du Québec (CPQ) was indeed quick to react to this new announcement, like the discontent displayed last week. “A new tile is falling on companies this week. They will have little time to adapt, as the announced changes will take effect within a month, “said Karl Blackburn, President and CEO of the CPQ.

The latest economic forecasts being “optimistic”, he says, the demand for workers could rise again. This program is only a “last resort”, because of the “paperwork and procedures” it represents, he says.

The CPQ also proposes to “facilitate networking with companies” to develop skills corresponding to the labour market, in particular those of asylum seekers.

Filed under Immigration Tagged with ,

Government officers told to skip fraud prevention steps when vetting temporary foreign worker applications, Star investigation finds

2024/08/28 Leave a comment

Sigh….

As the Trudeau government promises to crack down on a temporary foreign worker program it admits has been abused, a Star investigation has revealed the government is fast-tracking applications by directing processing officers to skip crucial steps designed to prevent fraud. 

Beginning in January 2022, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) directed staff to apply “streamlining measures” when evaluating the legitimacy of applications by employers who want to hire temporary foreign workers.

According to internal ESDC documents obtained by the Star and interviews with a current ESDC employee, routine checks meant to ensure the system is not abused by unscrupulous employers have been suspended in an effort to process applications faster.

Those checks include contacting employers to confirm they actually applied to hire a worker, verifying that lawyers and consultants applying on behalf of employers are in good standing with their regulator, and clarifying the overtime, vacation and benefits promised to the worker.

“This really shows a complete contradiction between the public-facing government policies and how the program is actually run,” said Catherine Connelly, a professor at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business who has been studying the temporary foreign workers program for more than a decade who examined the internal ESDC documents.

“On one hand, we’re told the government will crack down on everything, and then on the other hand, we see from the documents that this is clearly a rubber stamp,” she said. “If the government is not going to do even basic checks, how can the public have any confidence in anything?”…

Source: Government officers told to skip fraud prevention steps when vetting temporary foreign worker applications, Star investigation finds

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The sudden rise of temporary foreign workers in entry-level office jobs

2024/08/28 Leave a comment

Another example of how the program was mismanaged:

Temporary foreign workers are no longer a rare presence in entry-level office roles.

Last year, employers were approved to hire more than 3,500 administrative assistants via the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, up from just 112 of those roles approved in 2016, according to figures published by the federal government. In addition, companies were authorized to hire nearly 2,000 administrative officers in 2023. (The TFW program accounts for a small share of foreign labour in Canada, so it’s likely that other pathways are being tapped for admin workers, too.)

The TFW program has soared in use over the past few years, including more recruitment of low-wage workers in hospitality, construction and other fields. But this trend has brought greater scrutiny to the program, particularly as the unemployment rate has risen and some groups — notably young people and recent immigrants — have struggled to find jobs.

The federal government has said it’s trying to scale back the TFW program, and earlier this week, it announced a pause in using it to hire certain low-wage workers in the Montreal region.

Source: The sudden rise of temporary foreign workers in entry-level office jobs

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Travailleurs étrangers temporaires: Ottawa va resserrer les règles et les critères d’admissibilité 

2024/08/27 Leave a comment

The most comprehensive report I have seen so far (no doubt various commentaries will emerge in coming days). As the saying goes, better late than never but the Liberal government’s (mis)management of immigration has to rate as one of its biggest policy failures, substantively and in political terms.

But this policy reversal, one among a number, has the advantage that it demonstrates that restrictions cannot be automatically portrayed as xenophobic, nor can criticism of any proposed immigration restrictions in the Conservative 2025 platform be labelled as such by the Liberals and NDP.

We should expect to see the impact starting in October, with the final quarter numbers providing a good indication of their effectiveness:

Le premier ministre Justin Trudeau a annoncé lundi des changements au Programme des travailleurs étrangers temporaires (PTET) lundi matin, alors que le cabinet ministériel effectue sa retraite à Halifax. 

« Nous allons réduire l’utilisation du programme pour faire entrer des travailleurs étrangers temporaires faiblement rémunérés », a-t-il dit. 

« Nous regardons également les modifications au volet des postes à haut salaire. » 

Le premier ministre a justifié cette décision en expliquant qu’en raison de l’inflation, la situation n’était plus la même qu’il y a deux ans et que le Canada n’avait plus autant besoin de main-d’œuvre étrangère. Il a ajouté que le temps était à la formation et à l’investissement dans la technologie, et non plus à une dépendance croissante à la main-d’œuvre étrangère, parfois « exploitée » et « maltraitée ». 

Il a invité les entreprises à engager leur personnel parmi la population canadienne. « À ceux qui se plaignent de la pénurie de main-d’œuvre, voici mon message : il n’y a pas de meilleur moment pour investir et pour embaucher des travailleurs canadiens. » 

Les domaines de la santé, de la construction et de la sécurité alimentaire sont exemptés des nouvelles mesures du PTET qui seront appliquées dès le 26 septembre.

Selon les changements mis de l’avant, les employeurs ne devront pas dépasser un apport de travailleurs étrangers temporaires équivalent à 10 % de leur effectif. Ce seuil s’appliquera aux postes à bas salaires seulement.

Les travailleurs embauchés dans cette proportion pourront être employés pour une période maximale d’un an plutôt que de deux.

Par ailleurs, Ottawa signale qu’il ne traitera pas les études d’impact sur le marché du travail qui sont nécessaires pour justifier l’embauche de travailleurs étrangers temporaires si ces demandes sont faites pour des postes à bas salaire dans des zones métropolitaines où le taux de chômage est d’au moins 6 %.
Selon le ministre de l’Emploi, Randy Boissonnault, les changements entraîneront une réduction d’environ 65 000 travailleurs étrangers temporaires.

« Le PTET a toujours été conçu pour s’ajuster à l’économie et c’est ce que nous faisons : nous regardons les données économiques et nous y répondons », a-t-il affirmé.

Un « premier pas »

M. Trudeau a présenté l’annonce de lundi comme une « première étape » en réponse à l’importante hausse d’immigrants temporaires. 

Cet automne, nous allons présenter, pour la première fois, un plan de niveaux d’immigration qui ne parle pas juste de résidents permanents, mais aussi de résidents temporaires, qu’il s’agisse de travailleurs étrangers ou d’autres [catégories d’immigration].

 le premier ministre Justin Trudeau

L’objectif est de « s’assurer que l’ensemble a le plus de sens possible en fonction des besoins des Canadiens et de notre économie », a fait valoir le premier ministre. 

Les niveaux pancanadiens annuels de nouveaux résidents permanents – 485 000 en 2024 et 500 000 en 2025 ainsi qu’en 2026 — incluent des cibles chiffrées de dossiers à être approuvés par Ottawa dans des programmes économiques et de regroupement familial, par exemple, mais pas pour les volets d’une immigration dite « temporaire » et marquée, selon Statistique Canada, par une croissance fulgurante depuis 2022. 

« Je pense que l’époque des voies d’entrée au Canada qui ne sont pas plafonnées en vient à être révolue. C’est une question de planification et de prévision appropriées », a déclaré le ministre de l’Immigration, Marc Miller.

Parmi les nouveaux arrivants non permanents exclus des cibles actuelles, on compte les étudiants internationaux et les travailleurs étrangers qui peuvent vouloir, à plus long terme, élire domicile au Canada. On y retrouve aussi tous les demandeurs d’asile se trouvant déjà au pays qui attendent, face à de longs délais, une décision de la Commission de l’immigration et du statut de réfugié du Canada (CISR) sur leur requête ou la conclusion de leur appel après avoir essuyé un refus. 

En tout et pour tout, Statistique Canada évalue qu’il y avait 2 793 594 résidents non permanents partout au pays au deuxième trimestre de 2024. Au Québec seulement, l’agence estime qu’il y en avait 597 140, mais la CISR, qui s’en remet à une définition moins large et une méthodologie différente, en dénombrait plutôt 388 959, a précisé l’équipe du ministre fédéral de l’Immigration, Marc Miller. 

Ottawa a signalé en mars qu’il prévoit réduire le nombre de résidents temporaires à 5 % de la population au cours des trois prochaines années, contre 6,2 % au moment de l’annonce. 

M. Miller a ouvert la porte lundi à ce qu’Ottawa considère de réduire ses cibles de nouveaux résidents permanents dès 2025. « Je dirais que toutes les options sont en ce moment sur la table », a-t-il dit.

Des annonces au Québec

Le Québec, qui détient certains pouvoirs en matière d’immigration, a aussi annoncé récemment des changements au PTET. 

À compter du 3 septembre, le gouvernement imposera un moratoire de six mois concernant les demandes et les renouvellements en lien PTET sur l’île de Montréal. Le gouvernement de François Legault a présenté l’initiative comme une façon de protéger le français. 

Cette décision visera des emplois dont le salaire offert est inférieur au revenu médian du Québec, soit 57 000 $ par an ou 27,47 $/heure. Le gouvernement prévoit des exceptions qui touchent les secteurs de la santé, de l’éducation, de la construction, de l’agriculture et de la transformation alimentaire. 

Le premier ministre Legault a aussi indiqué qu’un projet de loi sera déposé cet automne afin de donner au gouvernement le pouvoir de limiter le nombre d’étudiants étrangers dans certains établissements d’enseignement « où il y a eu des abus ». 

Depuis plusieurs mois, Québec réclame au fédéral une baisse « significative et rapide » du nombre d’immigrants temporaires sur son territoire, plaidant que la province a dépassé sa capacité d’accueil. 

Source: Travailleurs étrangers temporaires Ottawa va resserrer les règles et les critères d’admissibilité

Translation:

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday changes to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFTP) on Monday morning, as the ministerial cabinet is retiring in Halifax.

“We will reduce the use of the program to bring in low-paid temporary foreign workers,” he said.

“We are also looking at the changes to the aspect of high-wage positions. ”

The Prime Minister justified this decision by explaining that because of inflation, the situation was no longer the same as two years ago and that Canada no longer needed foreign labor as much. He added that the time was for training and investment in technology, and no longer for a growing dependence on foreign labor, sometimes “exploited” and “mistreated”.

He invited companies to hire their staff among the Canadian population. “To those who complain about the labor shortage, here is my message: there is no better time to invest and hire Canadian workers. ”

The areas of health, construction and food safety are exempt from the new PTET measures that will be applied from September 26.

According to the changes put forward, employers will not have to exceed a contribution of temporary foreign workers equivalent to 10% of their workforce. This threshold will apply to low-wage positions only.

Workers hired in this proportion may be employed for a maximum period of one year rather than two.

In addition, Ottawa reports that it will not deal with labour market impact studies that are necessary to justify the hiring of temporary foreign workers if these applications are made for low-wage positions in metropolitan areas where the unemployment rate is at least 6%.

According to the Minister of Employment, Randy Boissonnault, the changes will result in a reduction of about 65,000 temporary foreign workers.

“The PTET has always been designed to adjust to the economy and that’s what we do: we look at economic data and respond to it,” he said.

A “first step”

Mr. Trudeau presented Monday’s announcement as a “first step” in response to the significant increase in temporary immigrants.

This fall, we will present, for the first time, an immigration level plan that is not just about permanent residents, but also about temporary residents, whether foreign workers or other [immigration categories].

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

The objective is to “ensure that the whole makes the most sense possible according to the needs of Canadians and our economy,” said the Prime Minister.

The annual pan-Canadian levels of new permanent residents – 485,000 in 2024 and 500,000 in 2025 and 2026 – include quantified targets of files to be approved by Ottawa in economic and family reunification programs, for example, but not for the components of so-called “temporary” immigration and marked, according to Statistics Canada, by meteoric growth since 2022.

“I think the days of entry routes into Canada that are not capped are over. It is a question of appropriate planning and forecasting, “said Immigration Minister Marc Miller.

Among the non-permanent newcomers excluded from current targets are international students and foreign workers who may want, in the longer term, to take up residence in Canada. It also includes all asylum seekers already in the country who are waiting, in the face of long delays, for a decision by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) on their request or the conclusion of their appeal after being refused.

In all, Statistics Canada estimates that there were 2,793,594 non-permanent residents across the country in the second quarter of 2024. In Quebec alone, the agency estimates that there were 597,140, but the IRB, which relies on a smaller definition and a different methodology, counted 388,959, said the team of the Federal Minister of Immigration, Marc Miller.

Ottawa reported in March that it plans to reduce the number of temporary residents to 5% of the population over the next three years, from 6.2% at the time of the announcement.

Mr. Miller opened the door on Monday for Ottawa to consider reducing its targets for new permanent residents by 2025. “I would say that all the options are currently on the table,” he said.

Announcements in Quebec

Quebec, which has certain immigration authorities, has also recently announced changes to the PTET.

As of September 3, the government will impose a six-month moratorium on PTET-related applications and renewals on the island of Montreal. The government of François Legault presented the initiative as a way to protect French.

This decision will target jobs whose salary offered is lower than Quebec’s median income, i.e. $57,000 per year or $27.47/hour. The government provides for exceptions that affect the health, education, construction, agriculture and food processing sectors.

Prime Minister Legault also indicated that a bill will be tabled this autumn to give the government the power to limit the number of foreign students in certain educational institutions “where there have been abuses”.

For several months, Quebec City has been demanding from the federal government a “significant and rapid” decrease in the number of temporary immigrants on its territory, arguing that the province has exceeded its reception capacity.

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Non-Jewish community leaders should stand up against antisemitism too

2024/08/27 Leave a comment

More calls to action. How effective these calls are on the ground remains to be seen:

In response to more than 100 Jewish institutions across Canada receiving identical bomb threats, Deborah Lyons, Canada’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, wrote, “These threats against the Jewish community are intended to intimidate and sow fear. The vast silent majority of Canadians finds the harassment and intimidation of the Jewish community of Canada vile and unacceptable. It is past time to stand up and say NO MORE.” 

While largely silent today, we have seen courageous acts of leadership from the non-Jewish community in the past. In 1947, a broad-based coalition of allies came together to form the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews — an organization whose mission was to push back against antisemitism and religious-based hate. With chapters across Canada, it became the leading forum for dialogue and understanding between Christians and Jews.

In 2004, in the wake of antisemitic incidents in Toronto and Montreal, then-Bank of Montreal President and CEO Tony Comper and his late wife, Elizabeth, formed a coalition called Fighting Antisemitism Together or FAST. It was pointedly made up exclusively of non-Jewish business leaders. The CEOs of Canada’s leading corporations lent their own names and their companies’ names to full page ads that ran in major Canadian newspapers.

The October 7th terrorist attacks by Hamas and the increase in antisemitism have brought back painful memories from the horrors of the Holocaust and millennia of dangerous demonization and discrimination. Today, Canada urgently needs a whole-of-society commitment to denouncing and eradicating antisemitism, and that takes courageous leadership.

Our business leaders need to speak up and push back. The chamber movement can play a critical role through its local chapters across Canada. Our national business organizations should be speaking up too.  

Our university leaders especially need to push back. Every Jewish student needs to feel safe from harassment and violence on and off campus. And all students, and their professors, must demonstrate tolerance for, and even curiosity about, the views and cultures of others. That’s, arguably, the core mission of universities. At the moment, too many of our universities are failing in that regard.

Municipal leaders need to ensure that their police forces have the resources they need to uphold and enforce our laws.

Our provincial political leaders need to follow the lead of Ontario and British Columbia and ensure that teaching curriculums provide facts and context about antisemitism and the Holocaust.

Federal leaders need to communicate clearly that antisemitism is antithetical to Canadian values, and it is an affront to democratic norms and freedoms everywhere. So too do our senior public servants.

Faith leaders from across the spectrum need to use their pulpits to promote unity and understanding across all peoples of faith.

Canada has been deeply enriched by its Jewish community, which has made tremendous contributions to every aspect of our society. Our leading universities, hospitals, and research institutes have also benefitted incredibly from cooperation, collaboration, and people-to-people exchanges with their counterparts in Israel.

Every Jew in Canada should feel safe, protected, proud and unhindered from religious practice, welcomed and supported by their classmates, colleagues and community. Simply put, there is no place in Canada for antisemitism.

The poem First They Came by Pastor Martin Niemöller should be a cautionary note to all minorities in Canada. Where antisemitism flourishes, so too do other forms of hate and intolerance. It threatens not just the Jewish community, but all of us and our social fabric.

As non-Jews, we believe this is no time to be a bystander. It’s time for non-Jewish leaders from all walks of life to speak up and push back against antisemitism as they have in the past. As Tony Comper told the Empire Club two decades ago, “Non-Jews must join the battle against what has been described sadly, but accurately, as the oldest and longest of hatreds.”

All Canadians need to communicate clearly to their Jewish neighbors, classmates, and colleagues that they are not alone: Canadians stand with the Jewish community and have their backs against antisemitism.

Hon. Paul Tellier was Clerk of the Privy Council and president and chief executive officer of CN and Bombardier, Hon. Kevin Lynch was Clerk of the Privy Council and vice chair of BMO Financial Group, Andrew Molson is Chair of AVENIR Global, Paul Deegan is CEO of Deegan Public Strategies

Source: Non-Jewish community leaders should stand up against antisemitism too

Filed under Antisemitism, Multiculturalism Tagged with , , ,

USA: Ending Birthright Citizenship Is Harder Than It Sounds

2024/08/27 Leave a comment

Good analysis:

….All of this could affect birth tourism. In his last administration, Trump issued an executive order outlawing B1/B2 tourist visas for birth tourism, where an alien comes to the U.S. specifically to give birth here and “create” an American citizen, an “anchor baby,” who will file for legal status for his parents at age 21. Prior to Trump’s EO, traveling to the U.S. to give birth was fundamentally legal, although there are scattered cases of domestic authorities arresting operators of birth tourism agencies. Women abroad were often honest about their intentions when applying for visas and even showed contracts with doctors and hospitals to prove they would not become public charges.

As it stands, visitors will be denied temporary visas if it is found the “primary purpose” of their travel is to obtain citizenship for a child by giving birth in the United States. The rule does not apply to the 39 countries in the Visa Waiver Program, and the State Department in implementing the EO forbids its visa officers from even asking in most cases if an applicant is pregnant, making the order hard to enforce.

“This is the first recognition that it’s not OK to use a visitor visa for the purposes of ‘birth tourism,’ so it has a symbolic strength in that respect, at the same time it’s not a very effective way at going after the ‘birth tourism’ industry,” said an analyst at the Migration Policy Institute. While the federal government does not specifically track birth tourism, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention annually publishes the number of known births in the U.S. to foreign women who reside overseas—around 10,000 such births every year for the past few years.

Source: Ending Birthright Citizenship Is Harder Than It Sounds

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Ottawa hoping to convince reluctant civil servants of the benefits of working from the office

2024/08/27 Leave a comment

Good luck trying to convince public servants that this is good for them even if it likely is in terms of career advancement.

But would be better for Christians Fox to be upfront and just tell public servants to “suck it up” given the realities of public opinion and that most private sector companies have also been introducing back to the office policies:

The federal government is preparing to welcome a frustrated workforce back to its offices on Sept. 9.

Under a new policy announced in May, federal civil servants will have to spend at least three days per week in the office, while executives will have to spend at least four. Currently, civil servants are required to be in their offices only two days per week.

Federal employees’ unions say most civil servants oppose the planned reduction in telework and report struggles with transportation and work-family balance. Many also say they’re more productive when they work from home.

Hoping to cool the discontent, a senior civil servant is making the case for spending more time at the office.

Christiane Fox, deputy clerk of the Privy Council Office, told Radio-Canada the new policy will improve the overall performance of the federal public service and help individual civil servants advance their careers.

“It’s to build a sense of teams that collaborate towards difficult public policy challenges,” she said.

Fox added the goal is to ensure that new public servants “understand the role of a public service and [are] in a position to learn by observation, by the things they see happening in their workplace.”

The government may also be hoping that bringing civil servants back to their offices can improve the public service’s reputation — which has been damaged by a perception in some quarters that employees are taking it easy when they work from home.

“Of course, we can’t ignore the perceptions and the comments that are made about the public service,” said Fox, adding that is not the rationale for the decision….

Source: Ottawa hoping to convince reluctant civil servants of the benefits of working from the office

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