MONTREAL — The Parti Québécois says it would lean on robots and automation to replace temporary workers as part of a lengthy proposal to slash immigration to Quebec, claiming its plan is a necessary course correction to ease housing pressure and protect the French language.
On Monday, the sovereigntist opposition party, which has only four members in the legislature but is leading in the polls, released a 97-page policy paper outlining major cuts to the province's immigration levels. It includes a proposal to reduce the number of non-permanent residents in the province to as few as 250,000, down from 600,000 today, within four years of forming government.
Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said it's a myth that immigration can fix labour shortages, adding that a Parti Québécois government would act immediately to cut temporary immigration. But he also said Quebec will only attain a viable immigration system if the province achieves independence from the rest of Canada, since control over newcomers is shared with the federal government.
"History teaches us that when you only have … one-fifth of the seats in Ottawa, it is not your interests that will take precedence in what the federal government decides," he told reporters during a news conference in Quebec City, referencing the 78 seats allocated to Quebec in the 338-seat House of Commons.
"Whether it is health, culture, the French language, immigration … it is always the same problem of a government which decides for us but which does not represent us."
St-Pierre Plamondon said it was unpopular to talk about reducing immigration until recently, but that public opinion has shifted. There is "nothing radical" in his party's proposal, he said, painting it as "a desire to correct an absurdity, an ideological drift that has very serious consequences."
The party wants to cut the number of temporary foreign workers in the province to 40,000 from 270,000. St-Pierre Plamondon said Quebec should follow the lead of countries like Japan and China that have invested heavily in robotics and artificial intelligence to fill labour gaps.
According to the policy paper, a Parti Québécois government would create a special fund for the automation of sectors affected by worker shortages, including manufacturing and retail. "We harm our economic prosperity if we prevent ourselves from innovating and automating by seeking an ever-increasing number of temporary workers," St-Pierre Plamondon said.
The party also wants to cut the number of permanent immigrants to Quebec to 35,000 from 50,000 annually, and to select them from among the temporary foreign workers and international students already in the province. It would place a moratorium on new economic immigrants from outside Quebec.
St-Pierre Plamondon said the numbers mark a return to immigration levels that were in place before the Liberals came to power in 2014 under former premier Philippe Couillard. He claimed that rising numbers since then have put pressure on housing and threaten the French language. He also said immigration might have a negative effect on the birth rate in Quebec, since the cost of housing could make people think twice about having children.
The policy paper proposes cutting the number of international students in Quebec to 50,000 from around 124,000 today. The party would achieve that in part by limiting the number of foreign students who don't speak French to fix an "overrepresentation" of international students at English-speaking universities.
The Parti Québécois' release on Monday of its detailed plan follows on the heels of the federal government's announcement last week of its own immigration cuts. Ottawa is planning to accept 395,000 new permanent residents next year, down from previous plans for 500,000. The numbers will drop to 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027.
But St-Pierre Plamondon said he doesn't "trust (the federal government's) honesty for a second on that topic." If Quebec wants control over immigration, he said, "independence is unavoidable."
Quebec Premier François Legault has also made moves to reduce temporary immigration in Quebec, including tabling legislation that would grant the government new powers to limit the number of foreign students. In a statement Monday on social media, Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge said the governing Coalition Avenir Québec has done "much more than the PQ" to impose French-language requirements for newcomers.
"The only measure the PQ is offering to resolve the immigration problem with Ottawa is to hold a referendum on the sovereignty of Quebec," he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2024.
Maura Forrest, The Canadian Press
