Employers across Pontiac–Kitigan Zibi have told me about the challenges they face finding and keeping workers. For rural communities, immigration helps keep local businesses, farms and essential services running.
I have seen this firsthand at Restaurant Lachapelle in Kazabazua, Caisse Desjardins in Gracefield, and Maniwaki’s hospital, where delays in renewing immigration documents threatened their ability to remain open or provide services. My office worked with federal departments to address these delays, helping protect the local jobs that would be lost if businesses closed. With our region already facing economic challenges, including recent forestry job losses in Maniwaki, we cannot afford to lose more local businesses and jobs.
As our government reduces temporary immigration, we must ensure rural communities can access the workers they need. That is why I have been pushing for greater flexibility under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. We raised the limit on low-wage temporary foreign workers from 10% to 15% for eligible rural employers, but Quebec did not adopt the measure. Recently, I raised concerns with our government about internal administrative delays affecting local employers. I am pleased that a new temporary measure now prevents work permit refusals simply because another federal department has not issued a required document.
But immigration is about more than filling jobs. The Outaouais population is aging. By 2041, nearly one in four residents is expected to be over 65, rising to nearly one in three in the Pontiac and Vallée-de-la-Gatineau MRCs, according to Services Québec. Meanwhile, the Canadian Institute for Health Information reports that Canada’s health-care workforce is not growing fast enough to meet demand.
So, who will care for our aging parents when they need help? Without enough health-care workers, some of us may have to reduce our hours or leave our jobs to care for loved ones. And that affects our economy, too.
In 2022, approximately 15,000 temporary foreign workers were employed in Quebec’s health-care sector, according to Statistics Canada. With demand for care continuing to grow, we cannot afford to lose experienced workers looking after our families.
There is also a longer-term challenge. Many temporary foreign workers have spent years living and working in our communities. Quebec needs to offer clearer pathways to permanent residence, particularly for workers already established here, who have homes, speak French and fill critical labour shortages.
Of course, immigration alone cannot solve every labour shortage. We need to invest in training Canadians, especially as some sectors lose jobs while others lack skilled workers. Quebec’s aerospace industry will need to fill 65,000 positions over the next decade. Yet earlier national projections suggested Canadian graduates could meet only 25% of the industry’s workforce needs.
That is why we are investing in initiatives like Team Canada Strong, helping young Canadians gain paid work experience and build careers in the skilled trades. We need both immigration and investment in our workforce to keep our economy strong.