Citizenship and Immigration committee  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,

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'm not a historian or an immigration expert, but what I can say is that, in the past 15 years, Quebec has sought to grant highly educated immigrants a distinct priority. That's a longstanding policy.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Who speak French or who are francophiles. That's among the major criteria. Quebec long resisted the temptation to use to temporary workers. We had a high unemployment rate and we thought that, by making the necessary efforts, we would manage to find unemployed workers to do the w

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I believe that there will be a need for various classes of labour in the labour market in the near future. I would say we'll need technical workers, not highly skilled, just highly qualified workers. The number of university graduates that Quebec has produced in recent years is t

Citizenship and Immigration committee  It's true that people who are better trained and more educated are theoretically supposed to be more flexible in the labour market. If they lose their jobs, they can adjust to new conditions and get a new job. Theoretically, it's true, but, in real life, it's not completely true.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Absolutely, but that's something of a theoretical question. In actual fact—and we may lament it—it takes a certain time—some say nearly two years—to go through the entire immigrant selection procedure.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  If I put on my hat as a representative of a business employers organization, I entirely share your point of view. One of the major purposes of immigration is nevertheless to contribute to the wealth of Canadian society and, in particular, through labour market entry. As you said,

Citizenship and Immigration committee  The federation has spoken out on the increase in the number of immigrants admitted each year. That number is currently 45,000 and, according to one of its scenarios, the Quebec government wants to increase it to 55,000. The federation agrees. Since we'll be short of labour, it's

Citizenship and Immigration committee  Approximately 5,000 permits are intended for agricultural workers.

Citizenship and Immigration committee  I'm going to cite another example. Take the tourist industry. The tourist industry's peak period in Mexico is winter. Here it's summer. We could completely meet the needs of Mexican workers who come to work here in the summer during the tourist season and who return home in winte

Citizenship and Immigration committee  In conclusion, I'd like to say that I'm very comfortable with the proposal that Ms. Folco has made. Workers who come here on a temporary basis and who have the opportunity to diversify, as Ms. Folco said, could advantageously fill jobs that we don't want to occupy for all kinds o

International Trade committee  Clearly, as international trade is expanding, infrastructure is a major aspect. This includes both traditional infrastructure, such as roads, railways, airports, including regional airports, which have been much neglected in the past, and research and telecommunications infrastru

International Trade committee  I would like to stress that we have one, two or three years before the agreement is ratified and implemented. Those who will come out ahead—because there will also be losers—will be those taking the lead. It is very important to take advantage of this time to help the industry de

International Trade committee  Those studies are not very detailed. The federation has about 20 committees, which include large companies that are leaders in their field. One of the issues those committees are studying is the positive or negative impact that the agreement is likely to have on those industries.

Government Operations committee  Good day. Medium-sized businesses are quite satisfied with the Canadian government's call for tenders and contract awarding system, especially because for the past few years a particular focus has been placed on the quality of the firm and its experience, innovation and skills.