Quebec freezes temporary foreign worker program for 6 months in Montreal

Hibapress / Radio-Canada

Quebec decrees a freeze on the temporary foreign worker program (TFWP) for six months in the Montreal region.

This temporary freeze is to come into effect on September 3 and only concerns temporary foreign workers who want to settle in the Montreal region through the PTETmanaged by Quebec. At the end of 2023, they represented 20% of the approximately 59,820 beneficiaries of this program.

The freeze only concerns jobs below $57,000 per year, with an exemption for essential sectors such as health, education, construction, agriculture and food processing.

Prime Minister François Legault and Immigration Minister Christine Fréchette are expected to make the announcement on Tuesday at 10 a.m.

It’s a first step, they say in Quebec.

This measure will in fact only affect a fraction of the 600,000 temporary workers in the province, the exact number of which is not a matter of consensus. (New window).