The CAQ wants to prioritize non-temporary workers in francization

Photo: Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press “What is important is to Frenchify those who will stay in Quebec,” believes Premier François Legault.

Isabelle Porter in Quebec City

Published at 11:09 AM Updated at 3:10 PM

• Quebec City

After allowing temporary workers to have access to francization courses, the Legault government is now saying that they must come after others to give priority to immigrants who will stay in Quebec.

“What is important is to francize those who will stay in Quebec,” Premier François Legault told Parliament on Thursday.

The government is under pressure due to the increase in cancellations of francization courses in school service centres (CSS). This fall, a total of 3,626 students, many of whom had already started their courses, were told that there was no room for them.

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A situation that the government attributes to the poor management of CSS and the sharp increase in demand. This year, the CSS received the equivalent of $104 million in francization budget, the same amount as last year.

On Wednesday, in an interview with Le Devoir, the Minister responsible for Francisation, Jean-François Roberge, had stressed that temporary workers accounted for 55% of the demand for francization.

In francizing “some”

However, Mr. Roberge was more nuanced than the Prime Minister. “I am not prepared to give up on the francization of temporary immigrants because some are temporary, but for several years on Quebec territory. And because […] we have put in place a measure that says that after three years, the renewal of temporary workers is conditional on reaching a French level. So once we have said that, we must still allow some to become francized. »

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Asked about the idea of ​​prioritizing permanent immigrants, Québec solidaire MNA Guillaume Cliche-Rivard noted that it was difficult to determine in advance which temporary workers would stay in Quebec.

“There is a portion of temporary workers who are intended to stay permanently. How is he [the minister] going to sort all that out??” he said. “We don't really know in advance who will qualify two years later. And precisely, the fact of having learned French qualifies you.”

During question period, Minister Roberge himself recalled that it was his government that had allowed temporary workers to take French language courses, which the Liberal government did not allow.

In November 2023, the Legault government announced its intention to make the renewal of temporary workers’ permits conditional on achieving a minimum level of French.

Approximately 60,000 participants in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) are currently in Quebec.