The new requirements that Quebec is preparing to introduce in terms of knowledge of French among newcomers are too high and even create an “absurd” barrier for students of English-speaking universities.
At least that’s what the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM) and its president, Michel Leblanc, denounce, who are asking the Minister of Immigration, Christine Fréchette, not to “shoot herself in the foot” by tightening too many of the requirements in his proposed amendments to the Immigration Regulations.
In its brief presented to the minister on the sidelines of the consultations conducted by the latter, the Chamber applauds the idea of expanding eligibility for the Quebec Experience Program (PEQ). She is therefore delighted to see that Quebec graduates will no longer be required to have also acquired work experience following the study program and to be employed at the time of the application.
However, the Board of Trade opposes Quebec’s desire to require student applicants to have completed a study program in French in Quebec or to have successfully completed at least three years of full-time secondary or post-secondary studies in French, in Quebec or outside.
Such a criterion, she points out, would close the doors to students from English-speaking universities such as McGill and Concordia, which, according to her, “would not only have an impact on the attractiveness of Quebec, but also on registrations with these institutions”.
For the Chamber, if foreign students want to study in English-speaking universities in Quebec, learn French and settle there permanently, it is “imperative” that they benefit from the same opportunities as students from French-speaking universities: “It would be absurd to deprive ourselves of the contribution of students from these institutions who would have made the effort to learn French during their studies, “we write in the memoir.
In an interview, its president returns to the charge: “It would be absurd to say to this person: ‘You know, it’s more complicated, because you went to McGill, because you went to Concordia. The word absurd, I really mean it. »
We can clearly sense in his remarks the fear of seeing the rest of Canada take unfair advantage of Quebec’s demands: “Yes, protect French, but don’t open the door too wide to the rest of the country, which will want to raid students in our English-speaking universities here, who would have made the effort to learn French, but who would end up with uncertainty if they stayed in Quebec as to their eventual status, versus something that is very simple and immediate in the rest of the country. »
Michel Leblanc points out that even those who will study in French universities will have to demonstrate, in order to be eligible for the PEQ, that they have a level 5 knowledge of written French. He believes that graduates from English-speaking institutions who have acquired this level of knowledge should be admitted on the same basis as those from French-speaking institutions.
Level 5 is taken from a scale of 1 to 12 used by the Government of Quebec to assess the knowledge of French of adult immigrants. Level 5 is the first level of knowledge that is described as intermediate and requires, in terms of written production, that the person be able to write “a short structured text that expresses several ideas and presents several facts despite numerous errors”.
This question of level of knowledge of French comes up in other types of programs, in particular in the new Skilled Worker Selection Program, which replaces a similar program. For certain types of jobs, the Chamber considers that the Legault government’s requirement to have knowledge of oral French at level 7 and written French at level 5 is “excessive”, and asks that it be reduced to level 5 in both cases.
“Level 7 is not necessary and the government recognizes it, underlines Michel Leblanc in broad strokes. In several jobs, he says level 5 is enough. If it was for occupational health and safety reasons, to say: if he doesn’t have a level 7 it could become dangerous, it is the company itself that must do that. It is not the government in its policy of welcoming immigrant workers to determine that it is a level 7 that is required. »
The Chamber makes the same request for immigration programs for business people – investors, entrepreneurs and self-employed people – arguing that the requirement at the Canadian level is level 5 in French or English. The rest of Canada is therefore becoming more attractive than Quebec, concludes the CCMM.
Finally, the Chamber asks Quebec to correct an irritant raised many times, namely that the French tests administered to newcomers are done in France: “They do not reflect the Quebec reality and present a significant proportion of European cultural references which can create confusion among candidates, “she laments, arguing that Quebec has a number of institutions capable of developing tests more adapted to the realities here.
For the Chamber of Commerce, the addition of barriers to the entry of newcomers is hampering the fight against the labor shortage when Quebec had approximately 196,500 vacant positions in the first quarter of 2023. She recalls that the vast majority of newcomers still settle in the Montreal metropolitan area, which badly needs this renewed labor force.
