One of Premier François Legault’s favourite subjects, temporary immigration, caught up with him all the way to Germany, where he is on an economic mission.
Two Quebec entrepreneurs reminded him of the importance of immigrants for their businesses.
“At the moment, we’re having a bit of trouble making the decision to invest. Not at all because of the tariffs. It’s because about half of the employees who run our plant are temporary foreign workers, and right now we’re going to have to get rid of them,” said Jean-Denis Toupin, owner of Constructions Proco, on Sunday at the end of the premier’s address to the Quebec delegation in Hanover, Germany.
The businessman’s statement drew applause from the audience.
The premier responded to the entrepreneur, pointing out that “in the last two years, the number of temporary immigrants to Quebec has risen from 300,000 to 600,000” and that this was putting pressure on housing and public services.
Aujourd’hui, je me suis adressé aux entrepreneurs québécois présents cette semaine à la Hannover Messe, le plus gros rendez-vous en technologie industrielle au monde. Plus de 100 entreprises du Québec y participent.
— François Legault (@francoislegault) March 30, 2025
L’Allemagne est notre premier partenaire économique européen et… pic.twitter.com/5pbfj6dRfP
“We want to reduce the number of temporary immigrants, but we want to do it intelligently, according to the needs of the regions,” Legault replied.
‘Don’t take my world away from me’
Another entrepreneur, Marie-Jeanne Bonneau, went up to Legault after his speech to deliver essentially the same message as Toupin.
“Don’t take my world away from me. We have to solve the problem. I have temporary foreign workers. They’re machinists and welders. This year, I’ll have to return some,” the deputy director and co-owner of Industries Dodec told the premier.
Legault returned to the subject later in a press scrum, saying that “in the regions, we have to look at the level of wages.”
“Yes, we want good, well-paid jobs that allow us to contribute to public service. But when it comes to low wages, we have to be careful,” he said.
Premier Legault keeps hammering home the point that there are too many temporary immigrants in Quebec. The CAQ government has taken several measures to reduce the number.
Legault is also putting a lot of pressure on Ottawa to do the same in the sectors he controls, particularly asylum seekers. He has reiterated this request to the two main federal leaders, Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre, who are currently campaigning.
Faced with Donald Trump’s tariffs, the premier chose to go on an economic mission to Germany to support Quebec businesses in diversifying their markets.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 30, 2025.
