Quebec government announces new measures to protect the French language and housing costs in Montreal.
An upcoming provincial bill is set to limit the number of international students in Quebec institutions. The bill was announced last month, along with a moratorium on temporary foreign workers in the Montreal region.
The provincial government has announced it will present a bill to the National Assembly to reduce the number of international students in Quebec. According to Statistics Canada, there were nearly 50,000 student permit holders in Quebec in the third quarter of 2021 and over 71,000 in the second quarter of 2024.
In its announcement, the provincial government stated that this upcoming bill would limit the number of international students in Quebec by criteria such as the type of institution, the number of international students in a given institution, and the region or the level of studies of international students. When contacted, Concordia University declined to comment on the bill.
“Concerning the government’s intention to table a bill, we saw the announcement in late August and are awaiting further information from the government, so I can’t comment on something that has not been detailed yet,” wrote Concordia University spokesperson Vannina Maestracci in an email.
In addition to the upcoming bill to oversee the arrival of international students in Quebec, the government announced a moratorium on the arrival of temporary foreign workers. The six-month-long moratorium concerns applications to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program in the Montreal region for those making less than $57,000 per year, the median income in Quebec. This moratorium took effect on Sept. 3 but includes exceptions for jobs related to certain fields, such as healthcare, education, construction, agriculture, and food transformation.
When contacted for comment, the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation, and Integration specified that the Aug. 20 announcement only concerned temporary foreign workers. The announcement did not mention any changes to the ability of international students to work in Quebec while they study in the province.
This announcement comes as the number of temporary immigrants has more than doubled between 2021 and 2024 in Quebec. According to Statistics Canada, there were approximately 285,000 non-permanent residents in the province in the third quarter of 2021 and nearly 600,000 in the second quarter of 2024.
“We absolutely have to reduce the number of temporary immigrants in Montreal to protect the French language,” said Quebec Premier François Legault in the announcement. “We also must protect our public services and reduce the pressure on housing … Today’s announcement is a first step, and we do not exclude going further. We also expect that the federal government acts quickly to curb the important arrival of temporary immigrants, of which an important part is under its responsibility.”
According to Statistics Canada, 90.2 per cent of people living in Montreal in 2021 had at least a conversational level of French, slightly down from 91.4 per cent in 2016.
