His company will lose about half of its French-speaking and well-established temporary foreign workers in Quebec

The owner of a window and door SME in Basse-Saint-Laurent is furious that he has lost half of his 90 temporary foreign workers (TET) because of Ottawa's new rules, and believes we are going straight to the wall by losing them. in the area.

“They are there every morning. They work and pay taxes. Can we please aim for another world?”, François Xavier Bonneville, managing director and shareholder, with his brother Lepage Millework, in Rivière-du-Loup, expressed his patience.

“We make ghosts out of them. They're well-integrated people who dream. “Sometimes it's been years since they last saw their family,” he sighed.

LePage Millwork needs its 90 TFWs because a good portion of its experienced baby boomer employees will soon leave. You have to pay about $12,000 in all kinds of fees to have a Temporary Foreign Employee (TEF).

Photo courtesy of LePage Millwork

Condemned the new rules

As of September 26, Ottawa will not allow a TET of more than 10%. They are also eligible for a work visa for a maximum of one year rather than two years, which the SME boss denied, saying he would have to let 45 experienced workers slip away at the worst possible time.

Immigration Minister Mark Miller and Employment Minister Randy Boissonault recently announced a reduction in the number of visas for students and temporary workers in Ottawa.

Photo by ANNE-CAROLINE DESPLANQUES

“These are people who come through the front door, with interviews, not through the back door. This is how I want us to see these people,” asserts M Bonneville, referring to her French-speaking employees from Mauritius and Madagascar, who have integrated well into her corner of the country.

“It's one direct job for four indirect jobs, so if we start losing direct jobs, things are going to get worse,” warned the entrepreneur, who had just taken over the family business.

“I wonder if I am investing in the right province or country? Do you invest tens of lakhs in factories without having employees?”, he wondered.

In early October, The Journal Hoteliers at the end of their tether are also reportedly asking for relaxations to avoid losing their TETs. “We think our sector can also benefit from exceptional locations,” said Véronyque Tremblay, CEO of the Association Hôtellerie du Québec (AHQ).

Jean-Claude Tien fell in love with Quebec and made many friends here. It is difficult to understand that he should now return to France.

Photo courtesy of ASSOCIATION HÔTELLERIE DU QUÉBEC

More than 80% of businesses are affected

According to Quebec (MEQ) manufacturers and exporters, the situation is dire and the sector should be exempted from the new regulations imposed by Ottawa as soon as possible.

More than 500,000 people work in manufacturing here in almost 1,000 companies in the four corners of Quebec.

“More than 80% of our members fear reductions in production, and 60% will move to postpone or even cancel planned investments,” warns Julie White, MEQ's vice president of public affairs.

The manufacturers are denouncing the “federal government's inconsistency and improvisational game regarding immigration and foreign workers” and want to be exempt from new measures that would block the renewal of work permits.

Photo provided by MEQ

If asked if this pool belongs to workers Cheap laborAn MEQ spokesperson replied no. “There are 13,000 vacancies in the manufacturing sector. The average salary is $30 an hour, so these are good paying jobs,” she replied.

“It's easy to say: 'We're going to take people out of unemployment and we're going to get them to work in our factories.' But there are issues of territory and interest,” she concluded.