No question for Ottawa to entrust the Temporary Foreign Worker Program [PTET] in Quebec, indicated in an interview with Journal Federal Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough yesterday.
• Read also: Ottawa relaxes its foreign worker program
• Read also: Long delays for foreign workers cost SMEs dearly
“When we can give the possibility in Quebec, we do it,” said the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Inclusion of People with Disabilities, Carla Qualtrough, during a an interview in French at Journalhere.
“If there is a situation, we can resolve it quickly,” she explained, saying that she had good meetings with her Quebec counterpart.
Measures announced
Last Friday, the Quebec Minister of Immigration, Jean Boulet, reaffirmed to the Journal that he still wants the Temporary Foreign Worker Program [PTET] be managed by Quebec.
However, in an interview Journalyesterday, the Minister of Employment of the Trudeau government, who manages the impact study on the labor market (LMIA), closed the door at the request of Quebec, but recognized that the delays were long.
“We know that there were delays which were very frustrating for employers,” conceded Carla Qualtrough, who yesterday announced a series of new measures to turn things around.
Unlimited low-wage positions in seasonal industries processing, employment duration of 180 to 270 days per year, labor market impact (LMIA) valid for up to 18 months… Ottawa has relaxed the TFWP for help provinces plagued by labor shortages.
Now, the maximum length of employment for workers in the high-paying and global talent streams will be increased from two to three years.
At the end of April, affected sectors, such as accommodation and catering, may even have 30% of their workforce with the program.
Painful delays
Meanwhile, business owners have to wait, like Guillaume Talbot, president of Boulangerie Auger, who is still waiting for his 11 workers from Tunisia, Morocco and the Ivory Coast.
The absence of its two electro-mechanics and its nine bakers is felt on the factory floor.
“It was supposed to take four months, and we are approaching “one year”. We have a crying need for manpower. The delays are too long, and we do not know why,” he concluded.