Temporary immigrants who want to settle permanently in Quebec must learn French or they must “return home,” Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon said.
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The super minister for economy and energy agrees with his colleague Christine Fréchette that Quebec must aim for exclusively French-speaking immigration. “I agree 100% with that!” he admitted on Wednesday at a press briefing in the National Assembly.
However, Mr Fitzgibbon recognizes that in certain high-tech sectors it is more difficult to recruit workers from French-speaking pools. Such is the case with the know-how to manufacture active cathode materials used in lithium batteries for the electric vehicle market.
“The cathodes come from China, they come from Japan or they come from Korea. So when they come here, they don’t speak French. But there are some who want to stay here, learn French and then be employed. And if you don’t want to, you can return home!” he insisted.
On Tuesday, however, its leader expressed “concern” about the meteoric rise in the number of temporary immigrants. Prime Minister François Legault is even considering requiring them to speak French.
The latest data from Statistics Canada shows that Quebec has welcomed 346,000 temporary immigrants to its territory as of Jan. 1, although the CAQ has frozen permanent immigration thresholds at 50,000 again this year.
The Legault government has already announced that it will make French language skills compulsory for all economic immigrants wishing to obtain permanent residency.