Quebec’s employment minister, Kateri Champagne Jourdain, plans to recruit 1,500 asylum seekers for the healthcare industry over three years. With the help of community organizations in Montreal and Quebec City, the workers will fill positions such as patient-care aides, kitchen and maintenance staff, and administrators. Applicants must have a valid work permit and an intermediate level of French. After a similar program connected asylum seekers with tourism jobs, 1,098 have shown interest. This follows an increase in asylum seekers at Canadian airports due to Ottawa’s closure of a popular land route and eased visa requirements. Most claims were made at Quebec airports. The eased requirements, in effect till the end of 2023, aim to clear the immigration application backlog.
