Quebec desperately needs migrant workers to plug labour shortage

Quebec province in Canada faces a major problem as its consistently waning birthrate abetted by an aging population are forcing some of its citizens to urge migrant workers to make this province their home in order to plug the shortage of workforce.

As per the Statistics bureau of Quebec, the year 2015 saw an average of 1.6 children per woman, a fall of one percent compared to 2014, making it the sixth year in succession to see children per woman population dropping. The figure might not seem alarming, but Quebec has always had a history aging population and a rising shortage of skilled individuals.

This province is expecting around 1.1 million workers to retire between the years 2013 and 2022. As per a recent study of the Immigration Department, this scenario warrants the need of migrant workers to shift to Quebec.

While the spread of immigration is uneven across Quebec, Statistics Canada predicts that minority populace would make up for 31% of Montreal’s population by 2031. But in the rest of Quebec, it is not expected to exceed five percent in any area during the same period.

This is causing cultural and linguistic gaps to rise between Montreal and the other cities in the province. It is also making analysts raise their voice for more immigrants to come in and solve the shortage of workforce.

Unlike other provinces of Canada, Quebec has more power to choose migrants based on factors, such as language. In fact, people with high level of proficiency in French comprised 61.3 percent of immigrants during 2010-2014. This factor, social analysts feel, helps to conserve Quebec’s linguistic ethos.

Most of the French immigrants are, however, not from France, Switzerland or Belgium, but from the French-speaking nations of Africa and other emerging economies.

People with a high degree of proficiency in French from India can, therefore, set their sights on Quebec, which desperately needs skilled workers.