Quebec seeing rise in injured temporary foreign workers hired to fill labour gaps

The number of temporary foreign workers injured on the job in Quebec has more than doubled in the past two years, as the province relies on more migrant workers to fill labour shortages.

Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet said Wednesday the Quebec workplace health and safety board (CNESST) will do more to try to protect migrant workers by hiring more inspectors and increasing its oversight over employers. 

Last year, the province struck a deal with Ottawa to allow Quebec employers to triple the number of temporary foreign workers they hire by the end of 2023 — a notoriously precarious workforce whose well-being depends on the goodwill of their employers.

"I want to reiterate once again that these workers have the same rights and obligations as all Quebec workers, and that Quebec employers have the same obligations toward them," Boulet said. 

In 2019, Boulet said Quebec employers hired 23,300 temporary foreign workers. That number was up to 38,500 in 2022, the minister said at a Quebec City news conference on Wednesday. 

In that same timeframe, the number of workplace accidents reported by temporary foreign workers went from 154 in 2019 to 362 in 2022. In 2021, when migrant workers were more widely permitted to enter the country following pandemic restrictions, there were 214 such accidents reported to the CNESST.

In a pilot project last year, the CNESST created a prevention team to train workplaces on Quebec labour laws and Boulet said the team would be made permanent and see its staffing increased from 12 to 22 agents. 

He said the province is also adding 141 inspectors specializing in labour laws to the existing 291 inspectors whose current focus is health and safety. 

Advocates for migrant workers say they welcome the additional oversight but are sceptical about whether the measures announced by Boulet will be enough, noting resources for the workers — both from non-profits and in government — haven't had time to adapt. 

"It's good news, but we'll have to see how it's put into action," said Michel Pilon, the co-founder of a migrant farm workers' support network, the Réseau d'aide aux travailleuses et travailleurs migrants agricoles du Québec (RATTMAQ). 

RATTMAQ opened offices in several cities across the province in the past year and a half, thanks to an increase in its government funding but still struggles to respond to all the complaints from workers about their employers, Pilon said. 

The CNESST team of prevention agents that was piloted last year only visits workplaces where the employer has requested their help. 

"Typically, those aren't the employers we have issues with," Pilon said. 

Boulet did not say whether that would change with the increase in agents.