2023-08-17 00:01:32
The new arrivals, on whom the federal Minister of Immigration relies to build houses, are in fact few in number on the building sites. It is even a problem, according to the Commission de la construction du Québec (CCQ), which is working on a seduction operation.
“We launched an action plan that is a bit like what was done for women a few years ago. […] We want to do the same for immigrant workers and workers from diverse backgrounds, because there are still very few of them and very few stay in the industry,” explains Marie-Noëlle Deblois, spokesperson for the CCQ.
The problem does not only affect Quebec. In 2022, only 5.5% of immigrants who arrived in the past five years worked on construction sites across the country, according to Statistics Canada. That’s up from the 4.8% of newcomers working in this sector in 2021, but still well below the general population, 8.8% of whom work in construction jobs.
Newcomers are a solution to Canada’s housing shortage, says new Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Marc Miller. “These people are going to build houses,” he said of the 500,000 people the federal government wants to welcome each year.
Targeted immigration
Minister Miller promises that a “strategic and economic approach to immigration” will give a boost to the construction industry, which is suffering from a shortage of workers.
In August, for example, was opened the first round of invitations to the Express Entry program for newcomers with experience in certain skilled trades, such as carpentry, plumbing or welding.
” It’s not enough. It should be all the construction trades,” believes Guillaume Houle, of the Association de la construction du Québec. In particular, he believes that the federal government should increase access to temporary foreign workers to compensate for the glaring lack of employees on construction sites.
To have the right to legally build houses in Quebec, the process is no different for an immigrant and for someone who was born here, explains the CCQ. However, this is not an automatic process.
Get his cards
Those interested can first complete a study program, such as a vocational studies diploma (DEP), which can take more than a year. It is also possible to enter the industry through a trade where there is a strong shortage, in a given region, which the CCQ calls “entry by basin”.
Immigrants, like others, thus have the right to work as apprentices with employers willing to provide them with 150 hours of work, provided they speak enough French or English to take a health and safety course. Nearly 16,000 of these certificates have been issued to alleviate regional shortages in 2022, according to the CCQ. This number is up from the 11,000 granted in 2020.
It is also possible to have your professional experience recognised. The process takes up to three months from the moment the file is complete, estimates Mme Deblois, who recognizes that “it is sometimes more difficult for an immigrant to have the required documents” to prove their expertise.
The CCQ must also continue its reflection this fall on ways to reduce the constraints on the integration of new arrivals on the work sites.
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