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With official targets unchanged, temporary immigration soars in Quebec

Published

2 years ago

June 20, 2022

MONTREAL — While Quebec’s official immigration targets have remained largely stable in recent years, the real number of newcomers in the province has surged due to an increasing reliance on temporary workers who often face more precarious conditions and long waits for permanent residency, a recent study has revealed.

The publication by the Insitut du Quebec found that while non-permanent residents represented nine per cent of international immigration to the province from 2012 to 2016, that number had climbed to 64 per cent by 2019.

Three experts who spoke with The Canadian Press said the growth in temporary immigration can help companies meet their needs in a tightening labour market, but the province needs to do more to adjust to the new reality in order to better serve both newcomers and its own goals.

As of 2021, the non-profit research institute found there were nearly 177,000 workers in Quebec classified as “temporary,” made up of international students with work permits, temporary foreign workers and skilled workers. In the last four years, permanent immigration levels have been capped at 40,000 to 50,000 a year.

Mia Homsy, an economist and co-author of the institute’s report, said the increase in temporary immigration is largely due to a labour shortage as well as an increasing numbers of foreign students.

She said that historically, temporary immigrants haven’t been a big part of the debate around immigration in Quebec, likely because they were such a small percentage of the total.

“Now that the trend has changed and the reality is completely different, it’s important to know what’s going on,” she said.

Homsy said the increase in temporary immigration is good for the province because it allows companies to fill needed jobs, especially in Quebec’s regions. It can also be a good thing for workers, because it can help them gain work experience and put them on a path to permanent residency.

However, many of them have permits that are closed, meaning they are linked to a single employer, “so their working conditions can be more precarious,” she said.

Adèle Garnier, a professor of geography at Université Laval who researches migration, says temporary immigrants face hurdles that permanent immigrants don’t. Those can include lower salaries, poorer working conditions and a lack of information on their rights as workers.

For years, she said, she and other organizations have been working to eliminateclosed work permits, which can make it harder for workers to push back against abuse and can “lead to exploitation.”

For Homsy, the biggest problem is the long wait times faced by temporary immigrants who want to obtain permanent residency. Currently, she said, the wait time sits at 31 months, even for those who have already received a selection certificate from Quebec — which can also take years.

Carlo Garcia, a 38-year-old worker from the Philippines, says his experience with the Canadian immigration system has been relatively smooth so far. Garcia, who is working in information technology on a skilled worker visa in Sherbrooke, Que., said he’s slowly learning French and hopes to become a permanent resident one day.

While he’s happy with the company that hired him, he said he wishes he could have an open permit to be able to take extra work from other clients and earn more money to bring his wife and two young children to Canada.

He said he’s debated eventually moving to another province because learning French — his third language — is a big challenge. But his gratitude to his employer and the city make him inclined to stay.

“With how (the company) helped us get here, as well as we’ve already established a connection with people here, there’s a high likelihood of me staying here,” he said.

Both Homsy and Garnier say the Quebec government has been reluctant to have an open discussion on temporary immigration.

Garnier said that while temporary immigration has the advantage of being “relatively politically invisible” for a Coalition Avenir Québec government that campaigned on limiting immigration, it means Quebec isn’t taking the newcomers into account when it calculates the demand for services such as public transit, education and health.

She said the government also needs to acknowledge that temporary immigration isn’t ending any time soon. “What worries me is the politics of putting their heads in the sand and acting like this is temporary,” Garnier said.

While Quebec has taken steps to facilitate their arrival — such as relaxing restrictions on how many temporary foreign workers a company can take — temporary workers are officially chosen by the federal government and are less likely to arrive speaking French. Ultimately, Quebec is hoping to be transferred control of the temporary worker program “in order to exercise a greater control over this program and better respond to the needs of Quebec and its regions,” the provincial Immigration Department said in an email.

Garnier and Homsy say the province needs to make more effort to ensure the workers who want to stay are given early access to French classes, and make sure their conditions of employment allow them to attend.

They also recommend the province increase its immigration targets, which could reduce wait times for permanent residency and create more certainty for both companies and workers. Homsy said the increase could come through a special program to fast-track applicants from Quebec’s labour-starved regions, which could accept a few thousand immigrants per year on top of the 50,000 person a year cap.

Quebec Immigration Minister Jean Boulet rejected the idea of raising the 2022 immigration target beyond its current level of 50,000, which he said is the maximum the province can properly integrate.

The Immigration Department email said thresholds for upcoming years will be set around the time of the fall provincial election campaign.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2022.

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press

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Langford, Heim lead Rangers to wild 13-8 win over Blue Jays

Published

21 mins ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rookie Wyatt Langford homered, doubled twice and became the first Texas player this season to reach base five times, struggling Jonah Heim delivered a two-run single to break a sixth-inning tie and the Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 13-8 on Tuesday night.

Leody Taveras also had a homer among his three hits for the Rangers.

Langford, who also walked twice, has 12 homers and 25 doubles this season. He is hitting .345 in September.

“I think it’s really important to finish on a strong note,” Langford said. “I’m just going to keep trying to do that.”

Heim was 1-for-34 in September before he lined a single to right field off Tommy Nance (0-2) to score Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe, giving Texas a 9-7 lead. Heim went to the plate hitting .212 with 53 RBIs after being voted an All-Star starter last season with a career-best 95 RBIs. He added a double in the eighth ahead of Taveras’ homer during a three-run inning.

Texas had 13 hits and left 13 men on. It was the Rangers’ highest-scoring game since a 15-8 win at Oakland on May 7.

Matt Festa (5-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win, giving him a 5-0 record in 13 appearances with the Rangers after being granted free agency by the New York Mets on July 7.

Nathan Eovaldi, a star of Texas’ 2023 run to the franchise’s first World Series championship, had his worst start of the year in what could have been his final home start with the Rangers. Eovaldi, who will be a free agent next season, allowed 11 hits (the most of his two seasons with Texas) and seven runs (tied for the most).

“I felt like early in the game they just had a few hits that found the holes, a few first-pitch base hits,” said Eovaldi, who is vested for a $20 million player option with Texas for 2025. “I think at the end of the day I just need to do a better job of executing my pitches.”

Eovaldi took a 7-3 lead into the fifth inning after the Rangers scored five unearned runs in the fourth. The Jays then scored four runs to knock out Eovaldi after 4 2/3 innings.

Six of the seven runs scored against Toronto starter Chris Bassitt in 3 2/3 innings were unearned. Bassitt had a throwing error during Texas’ two-run third inning.

“We didn’t help ourselves defensively, taking care of the ball to secure some outs,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.

The Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a double and two singles, his most hits in a game since having four on Sept. 3. Guerrero is hitting .384 since the All-Star break.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette (calf) was activated and played for the first time since July 19, going 2 for 5 with an RBI. … OF Daulton Varsho (shoulder) was placed on the 10-day injured list and will have rotator cuff surgery … INF Will Wagner (knee inflammation) was placed on the 60-day list.

UP NEXT

Rangers: LHP Chad Bradford (5-3, 3.97 ERA) will pitch Wednesday night’s game on extended five days’ rest after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and home runs (three) in 3 2/3 innings losing at Arizona on Sept. 14.

Blue Jays: RHP Bowden Francis (8-4, 3.50) has had two no-hitters get away in the ninth inning this season, including in his previous start against the New York Mets on Sept. 11. Francis is the first major-leaguer to have that happen since Rangers Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in 1989.

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Billie Jean King set to earn another honor with the Congressional Gold Medal

Published

1 hour ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

WASHINGTON (AP) — Billie Jean King will become the first individual female athlete to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey announced Tuesday that their bipartisan legislation had passed the House of Representatives and would be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.

The bill to honor King, the tennis Hall of Famer and activist, had already passed unanimously in the Senate.

Sherrill, a Democrat, said in a statement that King’s “lifetime of advocacy and hard work changed the landscape for women and girls on the court, in the classroom, and the workplace.”

The bill was introduced last September on the 50th anniversary of King’s victory over Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes,” still the most-watched tennis match of all-time. The medal, awarded by Congress for distinguished achievements and contributions to society, has previously been given to athletes including baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente, and golfers Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and Arnold Palmer.

King had already been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican, says she has “broken barriers, led uncharted paths, and inspired countless people to stand proudly with courage and conviction in the fight for what is right.”

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Account tweaks for young Instagram users ‘minimum’ expected by B.C., David Eby says

Published

1 hour ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

SURREY, B.C. – Premier David Eby says new account control measures for young Instagram users introduced Tuesday by social media giant Meta are the “minimum” expected of tech companies to keep kids safe online.

The parent company of Instagram says users in Canada and elsewhere under 18 will have their accounts set to private by default starting Tuesday, restricting who can send messages, among other parental controls and settings.

Speaking at an unrelated event Tuesday, Eby says the province began talks with social media companies after threatening legislation that would put big tech companies on the hook for “significant potential damages” if they were found negligent in failing to keep kids safe from online predators.

Eby says the case of Carson Cleland, a 12-year-old from Prince George, B.C., who took his own life last year after being targeted by a predator on Snapchat, was “horrific and totally preventable.”

He says social media apps are “nothing special,” and should be held to the same child safety standards as anyone who operates a place that invites young people, whether it’s an amusement park, a playground or an online platform.

In a progress report released Tuesday about the province’s engagement with big tech companies including Google, Meta, TikTok, Spapchat and X, formerly known as Twitter, the provincial government says the companies are implementing changes, including a “trusted flagger” option to quickly remove intimate images.

— With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024

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