CAQ Contenders Problem Get together Stance on Quebec Expertise Program
Each candidates within the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) management race suggest exceptions to the discontinued Quebec Expertise Program (PEQ) if elected premier. Christine Fréchette and Bernard Drainville, former cupboard ministers beneath outgoing Premier François Legault, purpose to interchange him following his resignation final month. The PEQ ceased on November 19, 2025, leaving the Expert Employee Choice Program (PSTQ) as the first financial immigration path to Quebec.
Fréchette’s Transition Plan
In a current social media replace, Fréchette outlines a two-year reopening of the PEQ for candidates residing in Quebec on the program’s finish. “This two-year transition interval will present a good and predictable pathway for individuals who are already built-in right here,” she states. To stick to immigration caps, she plans to chop PSTQ invites by an equal quantity.
Drainville Targets Key Sectors
Drainville advocates for grandfathering expert employees in well being care, training, building, specialised manufacturing, and related fields who lived in Quebec earlier than the PEQ’s closure. “In case you’ve been in Quebec for 2 years, converse intermediate-level French, and when you work in [those sectors] it is best to have a grandfathered proper,” he explains. “We must always be capable to maintain you as a result of we want you.” He positions himself as the only real candidate advancing this view up to now.
Legault Holds Agency Towards Exceptions
Premier Legault rejects any PEQ exemptions, citing 350,000 short-term overseas employees in Quebec and issues over French language decline in Montreal. “We can’t settle for all of the short-term overseas employees in Quebec in order that they turn out to be everlasting,” he affirms.
Mayors Endorse Pragmatic Approaches
Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada welcomes the candidates’ proposals, noting town’s unified push for immigration changes. “What individuals will let you know is that they do not actually care what this system is. They wish to keep right here beneath the promise that that they had after they got here right here,” she tells reporters. In January, Montreal, led by Martinez Ferrada and interim Projet Montréal chief Ericka Alneus, known as for exemptions for established immigrants.
Quebec Metropolis Mayor Bruno Marchand praises Fréchette’s place for its pragmatism. “It could present fast reassurance to these dwelling by way of an unsustainable state of affairs and would additionally supply an preliminary response to the wants of companies that contribute to the vitality of their communities all through Quebec,” he states.
Authorities and Opposition Reactions
Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge observes that the management contest sparks numerous views. “It is excellent that these debates are occurring, and folks will finally determine,” he remarks.
Québec Solidaire MNA and immigration critic Guillaume Cliche-Rivard criticizes Roberge’s stance, calling for exemptions to ease widespread nervousness. “The local weather of uncertainty, now amplified by the CAQ management race, is just untenable,” he declares.
