A group of Canadian technology companies is calling on Quebec’s prime minister to stop a bill requiring immigrants to learn French within six months of arriving in the province.
The 37 companies argued in a letter on Tuesday to François Legault that the period of time immigrants have before having to use French for official purposes under Law 96 is “an unrealistic deadline” for people they are adapting to a new home and could “do enormous damage to the province.” economy ”.
The letter orchestrated by the Canadian Council of Innovators (CCI) and signed by Coveo, Sportlogiq, CloudOps and Petal executives describes the deadline as difficult to meet because the province will not have language support for newcomers through the government Francisation Quebec until 2023. although the bill received royal approval in June.
“By the time your government creates Francisation Quebec, the law will have discouraged global workers from choosing Quebec as a new place to build a life and grow a family,” the letter says.
Instead of the immediate support of Francisation Quebec, many companies are willing to bring tutors or teachers to their offices to help immigrant workers learn French, but there is a shortage of instructors, said ICC President Benjamin Bergen .
“Even companies that are being extremely proactive and really trying to work to integrate their teams, are facing challenges,” he said.
They also fear that the language requirement for immigrants may impede the province’s ability to compete for technological talent and worsen the shortage of existing developers and engineers.
The Quebec government estimated last year that 10,000 jobs would have to be filled in the information and communications technology sectors.
If the province ignores the ICC letter, the CEO of the Quebec-based cancer drug development company Repare Therapeutics said it is inevitable that no new businesses will be set up in Quebec. and that existing businesses will have to leave the province or even leave.
“There’s no doubt we could end up in a situation where we want to recruit someone big, but they tell us,‘ We’ll just come to your Boston office ’or God forbid, we’re in a situation where we have to open a facility Ottawa or Toronto, “said Lloyd Segal.
That “creepy effect” has already occurred, Bergen said. He has heard of highly skilled workers reconsidering moving to Quebec and CCI member companies thinking of opening offices in Toronto, Halifax and Vancouver as a way to attract talent.
Before these effects become even more rampant, CCI and the signatories want the government to work with companies to come up with a better plan that “does not end up causing more harm than good to our economy and province.”
The bill, which the Quebec National Assembly voted to pass in May, has also faced calls for change from the Quebec Retail Council and Quebec manufacturers and exporters.
In addition to the requirements for immigrants, the bill subjects companies that employ at least 25 people to “francization” – government certification that the use of French is widespread in the workplace – to drop from the current 50 .
Under the bill, the French-language surveillance body may withhold aid or subsidies from those who do not comply.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses estimates that the implementation of the bill will cost a 50-employee company between $ 9.5 million and $ 23.5 million.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 14, 2022.