Ottawa to allow temporary foreign workers in Quebec to retain permits for up to 12 more months

Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge responds to the opposition during question period at the Quebec National Assembly on Wednesday, February 25, 2026. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

Ottawa is responding to a request from Quebec and will allow temporary foreign workers to retain their work permits for up to an additional 12 months.

“This maximum 12-month extension granted to workers in the process of being selected by Quebec will allow them to continue supporting their employers while their eligibility for Quebec selection certificates is being assessed. This, in turn, will facilitate their transition to permanent residency. The Quebec government will determine the sectors and workers it wishes to prioritize,” said federal minister and Quebec Lieutenant Joël Lightbound during the announcement on Friday in Saint-Alban.

This measure applies only to individuals who have submitted a Demande de sélection permanente (DSP).

“What we’ve heard is that many businesses, particularly in our regions, need labour, they need temporary foreign workers, and they also need time to adjust. We’ve also heard this from the Quebec government, which has asked us for more time,” said Lightbound.

“What we’ve also heard—and we all agree on this—is that temporary immigration cannot and must not be a long-term solution to labour challenges for Quebec and for Canada. There must be a pathway from temporary to permanent status,” he added.

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The minister added that 58 per cent of Canada’s temporary foreign workers are in Quebec.

Quebec’s Minister of Immigration, Jean-François Roberge, ended the Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ) last November. This program was considered a fast track to permanent residency.

Since then, foreign workers must go through the Skilled Worker Selection Program (PSTQ) to obtain permanent residency.

However, this government decision has sparked discontent across Quebec. Temporary foreign workers fear being sent home before their applications are processed through the PSTQ.

In 2024, Ottawa imposed a 10 per cent cap on the number of low-wage temporary foreign workers a company can hire. As a result, many of them fear a labour shortage. However, the federal government also announced on Friday that this percentage will increase to 15 per cent from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027.

It was claimed that this measure will “meet the needs of the rural labour market in the provinces and territories that choose to participate.”

Immigration minister reacts

Minister Roberge’s reaction to this announcement was mixed.

He first stated that “any measure that allows for the renewal of work permits for temporary foreign workers already in the province is a good thing and deserves to be highlighted.”

He then added: “However, it must be acknowledged that these measures, while positive on the surface, will only partially address the uncertainty caused by the restrictions still imposed by the federal government.”

“What the Quebec government is asking is for Ottawa to renew the work permits of all temporary foreign workers in Quebec, outside of Montreal and Laval. However, that is not what is on the table. Several questions remain. It is up to the federal government to answer them,” Jean-François Roberge stated on social media.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 13, 2026.

Thomas Laberge, The Canadian Press