Press release
The Board of Trade recommends increasing the number of immigrants to Quebec
Montréal, August 18, 2011 – This morning the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal presented its brief on Quebec’s immigration planning for 2012-2015 before a parliamentary committee. The President and CEO of the Board of Trade, Michel Leblanc, restated the importance for Quebec of immediately improving the selection process and criteria for immigrants, strengthening measures to integrate them to the workforce and increasing the number of immigrants in the long term.
“The aging of the population, which has already begun, will create a contraction in labour that could prove detrimental to businesses if we do not significantly increase the pool of workers in Quebec,” Michel Leblanc said. “To meet these needs, the Board of Trade recommends that the government gradually increase the number of immigrants accepted. For example, if Quebec were to welcome immigrants in proportion to its demographic weight within Canada, we would have a goal of 65,067 immigrants per year rather than the 50,000 proposed by the government.”
To reap the full benefit of the talent arriving in Quebec, the Board of Trade believes that the selection process for candidates must be improved. “We need to target the people who will best integrate to the job market, including people under 30 and immigrants with recognized professional knowledge and skills,” Mr. Leblanc said. “We also have to find ways to attract and retain more economic immigrants in the ‘businessperson’ category.”
The Board of Trade recommends reinforcing measures to integrate immigrants to the job market once they have arrived. “Working with professional orders, the Government of Quebec needs to speed up the evaluation and recognition of diplomas and other academic qualifications, as well as professional experience acquired outside of the country,” Mr. Leblanc said. “The Board of Trade believes it is equally important to step up efforts to promote the integration of immigrants into our business networks, as our Interconnection program does.”
You can read the Board of Trade’s brief here.
The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal has some 7,000 members. Its primary mission is to represent the interests of the business community of Greater Montreal and to provide individuals, merchants, and businesses of all sizes with a variety of specialized services to help them achieve their full potential in terms of innovation, productivity and competitiveness. The Board of Trade is Quebec’s leading private economic development organization.
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Source:
Sylvie Paquette
Advisor, Media Relations
Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal
Tel.: 514 871-4000, ext. 4015
sylvie.paquette@ccmm.qc.ca