Quebec has started its year with the lowest unemployment rate and a record number of job vacancies. To address the labor shortage, the provincial and federal governments have taken several measures to support migrants.
The pandemic has transformed Quebec’s labor market. According to a report by the Institute du Québec, public health measures have widened already existing labor market gaps and presented new challenges.
The report, titled Billon 2021 de l’employe au Québec: Transformation sectorial et deficit de competencies en vue, addresses key questions that have emerged during the pandemic in an attempt to understand the current state of the labor market.
Mia Homsey, the Chief executive officer of the institute du Quebec, said that they have started the year with the lowest rate of unemployment.
“With a dwindling pool of potential workers and a substantial reduction in labor market participation rates among those 55 and up, unless businesses, unions, schools, and governments substantially change their approach to human resource management, labor shortages will undoubtedly Will be the biggest hurdle in recovery.”
Challenges in Labour Market in 2022
Quebec’s elderly population will continue to impact the labor shortage because workers who reach retirement age desire periods of high vacancies and low unemployment. Certain groups of workers, including those over the age of 55, have not fully returned to work and early retirees among them may find it difficult to entice them to return.
In addition, the housing, food services, and retail industries may face ongoing recruitment problems, which may result in the need for employers to rethink their business models even beyond the pandemic.
Jobs that do not offer more opportunities to work from home or in a hybrid model may be less desirable to potential employees. Those employees who are grappling with recruitment issues may need to lower their hiring standards, particularly those who are related to the academic area. If this happens then it would mean that the requirement for the educational sector may not be as simple as they were before the pandemic. Companies may be able to offset this by focusing on professional development and in-house training to maintain competitiveness.
Finally, more organizations will be looking for candidates with strong reading comprehension, writing, and complex solving skills, while Quebec and the rest of Canada are already struggling with digital literacy. The need for qualified workers, especially in health care, social support, educational services, information technology, and construction, will continue to grow.
Quebec Immigration to fulfill the labor shortage
Quebec is taking action to fulfill the shortage of labor such as increasing the migration levels and making it easier for employers with real labor shortages to hire temporary National workers.
According to Quebec’s Immigration Level Plan released on October 28, 2021, the province is set to welcome 52,500 new permanent residents in 2022. Most of these newcomers will come through Quebec’s economic immigration programs, including the Quebec Skilled Worker Program (QSWP) and the Quebec Experience Program (QEP).
A number of measures have also been introduced in Quebec for temporary foreign workers. As of last January, some Quebec workplaces can now support a workforce of 20% temporary workers, up from 10%. The measure applies to businesses in hard-hit sectors such as retail, housing, and food services.
Also, occupations listed under National Occupational Classification (NOC) Skill Level C on 24th May this year will now be included in the Treaty Simplify, (Easy Processing). This simplified process allows more flexibility for Quebec employees under the Temporary Foreign Employee Program (TFWP). On December 6, 2021, Quebec announced that certain NOC de occupations are exempt from TFWPs ‘ advertising and recruitment requirements. Earlier, only businesses classified under NOC skill levels 0, A, and B were eligible for convenient processing.
These measures are among a number of measures implemented by Quebec and the federal government to support the province’s labor market through immigration. The Institute du Québec report shows that immigrants have high instances of employment in Quebec’s workforce. Employment recovery has been strongest among immigrants living in Canada for less than five years. The employment rate for these newcomers stood at around 76% in 2021, compared to around 64% for the same period in 2019.
At the end of 2021, the overall migrant employment rate was about 83% as compared to the 78% reported in 2019.
