Quebec premier lays out economic vision, warns economy headed for tough times

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BEAUHARNOIS — Quebec Premier Francois Legault showed little interest on Monday to raising immigration levels, saying the way the economy is heading, the province will have more employees than job openings.

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He made the comments after he announced his economic vision for the province during an event at the Beauharnois hydropower generating station southwest of Montreal, where he invited the province’s business leaders.

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In these trying economic times, as the United States’ trade policy becomes increasingly protectionist, Quebec should focus on boosting hydroelectric power, cutting bureaucracy, and intervening directly in the economy, Legault announced.

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Immigration, however, was absent from Legault’s presentation on Monday — despite business leaders saying the province desperately needs more workers.

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“Businesses want to have as many workers available as possible to be able to pay the lowest wages, but we have to be careful,” Legault told reporters after his speech. He repeated his government’s recent announcement that it is targeting 45,000 new permanent residents annually over the next four years, down from an anticipated 61,000 this year.

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“Our labour market projections indicate that the economic situation is not looking good in the coming months,” the premier said. “We risk having more job openings than employees.”

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But immigration remains a crucial issue, says Julie White, president and CEO of Quebec Manufacturers and Exporters.

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“It’s clear that if we look at the long term, we’re going to need a lot more workers,” said White, who attend the event at Beauharnois. “The demographic curve is what it is. Companies are doing what they can to recruit in Quebec. There simply aren’t enough workers on the ground.”

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With less than one year to go before the provincial election, the economic vision for Quebec that Legault presented Monday was largely a rehash of measures already put forward by his government.

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He touted Hydro-Quebec’s already announced plan to invest $200 billion between now and 2035 to increase the public utility’s energy capacity, a project he said will help the province weather the pain from tariffs imposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

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“In a situation where we need to replace jobs lost due to Donald Trump’s decisions, what is happening and what will happen at Hydro-Quebec is highly strategic,” Legault said.

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He said the province risks facing a recession, and called on companies to do more to invest in Quebec’s economy.

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“When there’s uncertainty, we wait before investing, but now we may need you to take a little bit more risk,” Legault said. “We have to continue to invest, because the economic situation we see today will only get worse if we continue to see business investment put on hold.”

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In a bid to make the province more attractive to investors, the Quebec government is promising to fast-track projects with help from a “major reduction” in bureaucracy. “Bureaucracy undermines the productivity of the public sector, and considerable efforts will be made to reduce it,” reads the document of more than 50 pages that the government released Monday.