Number of temporary migrant workers in Quebec has more than doubled in 5 years
The number of temporary foreign workers in Quebec has climbed more quickly than anywhere else in Canada, but experts say resources to prevent exploitation haven't kept up, leading to more workers deserting farms for illegal work elsewhere in Quebec or across the border.
From 2017 to 2021, the number of permits the federal government issued to Quebec employers for temporary foreign workers increased 133 per cent, from 13,030 in 2017 to 30,340 in 2021.
By the estimate of one migrant workers' advocacy group, that number could rise to 90,000 by 2027.
Despite the program's meteoric expansion, resources in Quebec have hardly kept pace. Researchers say that is pushing a growing number of workers into going underground, and increasingly, paying smugglers thousands of dollars to take them across the border into the United States.
