Quebec’s freeze on temporary foreign workers is just a ‘political move,’ immigration lawyer believes

A Quebec immigration lawyer says the province’s upcoming measures to limit the number of temporary immigrants will have no impact on the government’s “stated intention.”

Among the measures coming into effect Tuesday, there will be a six-month freeze on certain applications and renewals to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) in the Montreal area.

BACKGROUND: Quebec announces six-month freeze on some temporary foreign workers in Montreal

It includes workers earning less than $57,000 a year – the median salary in Quebec – as well as those not working in certain sectors such as health care, education, construction, agriculture and food processing.

Lawyer Krishna Gagné believes this is a “political move” on behalf of the François Legault government, “rather than a measure that will have a significant effect.”

“It seems to be more political, to get the population on their side, because we don’t see how this could really improve the situation in Quebec,” said Gagné, the vice-president of the Quebec Association of Immigration Lawyers (AQAADI).

Gagné says only about 3,500 of the 600,000 temporary immigrants in the province are being targeted. She also feels the new measures can be circumvented rather easily.

“There are many ways to go around it,” she said. “You can do remote work. If a business has two different addresses, they can go outside of Montreal and have a worker employed there.”

READ MORE: McGill, Concordia react to Quebec government’s plan to limit international students

Legault’s CAQ says the measures are aimed at reducing the number of immigrants in Montreal, which could also reduce the impact on housing and public services.

“If the stated intention is to reduce the pressure on the housing, health-care system, education, and to promote the French language, it’s a very, very ambitious intention for such a project.

“The only thing that that will affect is families. I’m thinking about the families who have to change school to go back to their countries or change their life. Such a crucial time of the year, which is September for kids. I’m just having a thought about them.

“And I think that maybe the government didn’t take into consideration the human side of it.”