Thank you. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
As you know, the recourse available to immigrants in their capacity as temporary workers has developed to a certain degree in recent years in Quebec. In 2006, for example, 19,257 temporary work permits were granted to immigrants, and 5,229 extensions of stay for work purposes were granted to foreign nationals. Note that, in that year, Quebec took in 44,686 permanent immigrants. You have 45,000 permanent immigrants on the one hand, and approximately 25,000 persons receiving temporary permits on the other. I hope my figures will be corroborated by your expert. Those figures are obviously those for Quebec. I will only talk about Quebec today.
This situation obviously isn't unrelated to the improvement in the Quebec labour market. In a number of regions in the past two or three years, we've experienced a situation close to full employment, and we've begun to feel labour shortages at various qualification levels. I would emphasize this point: there are problems of recruitment and labour availability at various qualification levels, and not only among highly skilled workers. This phenomenon can only become amplified in the foreseeable future. Starting in 2011-2012, more people will leave the labour market, mainly to retire, then new workers will come into the labour force. And 2011-2012 is virtually the day after tomorrow. Using immigration is thus unavoidable, despite the productivity gains that we must achieve in other areas.
In recent years, the federal government has softened entry rules for temporary workers. In particular, it has increased the period for these foreign workers' stay from 12 to 24 months. The Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec hails this initiative. We all know that the temporary worker recruitment process is much simpler and quicker than the immigrant selection process, since the country's commitment to candidates, and vice-versa, is obviously not the same in both situations.
Thus far, most temporary workers welcomed in Quebec have been skilled workers coming to fill positions requiring certain skills that are hard to find in Quebec and Canada. There are two exceptions, of course: agricultural workers and domestic workers. When these sought-after skilled workers come on a temporary basis, they also enable certain businesses to respond to non-recurring intensive work periods for which it would be hard to hire permanent staff.
The unions have been very watchful of immigrant worker programs, fearing that the influx of large numbers of workers will lower wages and working conditions. In the present circumstances, we recognize from the outset that businesses must make the work attractive for people from here, particularly in terms of wages and working conditions. The fact nevertheless remains that some unskilled jobs find fewer and fewer takers among Quebeckers. There has recently been a lot of talk about seasonal agricultural workers, which clearly illustrates this situation because it has been around for a number of years.
Theoretically, at harvest time, there are enough students, unemployed workers, and welfare recipients able to work and other unoccupied individuals. So enough people are available to do the harvests, but that is not how it works in real life. This balance is entirely theoretical. In actual fact, if we didn't bring in nearly 5,000 Mexicans and other South Americans every spring and summer, the crops would rot in the fields. Last year, there were more than 5,000 of them. A distinction must therefore be drawn between the theoretical fit and the real possibility of recruiting workers, even in reasonable market conditions.
The question will soon arise about unskilled jobs that Quebeckers clearly do not want to occupy. Think of manual jobs in slaughterhouses, restaurants, hotels, warehouses and transportation. The response to these needs will inevitably come, at least in part, from immigration. We acknowledge from the outset that temporary workers are more vulnerable, due to the fact that their dismissal generally means immediate repatriation to their country of origin. As a society, and as members of the government, we therefore have a responsibility to put in place conditions in which the fundamental rights of these workers are respected and they are offered working conditions and a welcome that preserves their dignity and safety.
With that premise laid down, Quebec, like many other developed societies, can use the foreign method, on a temporary or permanent basis, to occupy jobs that are very hard to fill here at home for all kinds of reasons.
The businesses that we represent consider it highly important that they be able to resort to, call upon skilled and unskilled foreign workers in order to continue their development and wealth and job creation in Quebec.
Thank you.