Quebec immigration overhaul would be unfair, Gatineau advocates say

People who advocate for immigrants in the Outaouais region are upset over recent proposed changes to Quebec's immigration rules.

Minister of ImmigrationSimonJolin-Barrettetabled Bill 9 at the National Assembly on Thursday, proclaiming that thenew ruleswould do a better job of meeting the needs of the Quebec workforce.

• Quebec wants to throw out 18,000 skilled-worker applications as part of immigration overhaul

Bill 9 includes an amendment to the Quebec Immigration Act to "clarify" its goals, including ensuring that immigrants learn French and integrate the "democratic values and the Quebec values expressed by the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms."

"So we make a match it's like the Tinder of immigration," explainedJolin-Barrette.

Other changes would include speeding up the application process and addressing regional labour needs.

But the new law would also mean tossing out more than 18,000 applications from skilled workers some of which, according to the minister, have been in the backlog for15 years.

'This affects me too'

Thatcuts particularly close to home for YouYou Nsembe, an employment counsellor for immigrants working in Gatineau.

Her brother, a computer engineerin the Congo, applied in 2017 to come to Canada. She worries he could be affected by the proposed changes, even though he has a degree and letters of recommendation from a Canadian employer.

"As his sister, this affects me too," said Nsembe in a French-language interview.

Roxana Merello, the director of Service Intgration Travail Outaouais(SITO), an immigration services organization, said she doesn't understand how the government's approach which also includes a reduction in the total number of immigrants coming to the province by 10,000 this year will help the Quebec job market.

Job demand already high

She said SITOis constantly getting requests from employers for workers.Merellosaid research suggests in the coming years, 22 per cent of jobs will have to be filled by immigrants.

"We can't meet employer demands now," said Merello."We're wondering what [we'll]we do if we get rid of 18,000 files."

While the plan is to refund skilled worker applicantstheir application fees,that doesn't include other costs like legal and travel fees,said Jean-MarieMondsir, chair of the board representingAccueilParrainageOutaouais, a settlement organization working with new arrivals.

Mondsirsaid he's not against improving the system, but trashing so many applications in the queue seems "really unfair."