The Laval Police are urging residents to be cautious after receiving dozens of recent reports from victims of “distraction theft.”
According to the LPD, more than 40 people have come forward with similar experiences involving jewelry thieves targeting mainly the elderly.
The suspects, who appear to be from Eastern Europe, operate in public places, particularly shopping centre parking lots, according to the LPD.
Distraction theft is concerning not only the police, but also the banking industry which sees itself forced to absorb rising amounts of losses from stolen credit cards taken during distraction thefts.(Photo: Courtesy of TD Bank)
They typically approach their victims under various pretexts, such as asking for directions or recommending a restaurant in the area. Once a conversation is underway, the suspects thank their victims by offering a piece of jewellery as a gift.
They then take advantage to discreetly steal the victim’s more valuable jewellery, including bracelets, watches, necklaces or rings.
Some recent fires in Laval
The fire on 90th Ave. in Chomedey. (Photo: Courtesy Association des Pompiers de Laval)
September 25, 1:04 am. Building fire on 90th Avenue in Chomedey. Residential structure. Flames apparent in the basement. Code was 10-07, meaning intervention necessary
Media reports state that the Laval Fire Dept. transferred an initial investigation they undertook into this fire to the Laval Police for arson investigation.
The LFD reportedly found enough evidence on the scene to suggest that a criminal inquiry would be in order.
October 1, 5:26 am. Building fire on Lavoisier St. in the Laval-des-Rapides sector. Residential structure.
Flames apparent coming from a rear balcony. Code was 10-07, meaning an intervention was necessary.
The theme at this year’s gala will be ‘The Magic of Hope’ on October 24
With just a few weeks to go before Pink in the City’s annual gala for the benefit of breast cancer care at the McGill University Health Centre, dedicated supporters gathered at the Volvo Laval dealership in Duvernay last week for an event marking the official start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
‘Worthy cause,’ says Groupe Taddeo
The cocktail/buffet dinner with live music was a warmup for the gala, while marking the first time Pink in the City partnered with Volvo Laval’s new owners, Groupe Taddeo Auto, for an awareness-raising event.
Dr. Sarkis Meterissian, director of the Breast Center of the McGill University Health Centre, addressed guests at Pink in the City’s gathering at Laval Volvo last week for the launch of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Laval News)
“It’s a very worthy and important cause to us as we’ve had people in our family affected by breast cancer,” said Victoria Taddeo, vice-president of sales and marketing with the company, which also operates Honda and Polestar dealerships in Laval and Montreal.
Pink in the City’s Bobby and Denise Vourtzoumis, are seen with sax musician Zena Bernoty during the Breast Cancer Awareness Month launch at Laval Volvo. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Laval News)
Volvo EX30 to be raffled
Volvo Laval contributed a 2025 Volvo EX30 battery electric subcompact crossover SUV to raffle off for the benefit of Pink in the City, with tickets going for $150 a pop. The EX30 is among Volvo’s smallest SUVs, but a variant is reportedly among the fastest accelerating Volvos ever.
“I’m so happy to see so many people wearing the color pink, because that is the symbol of us remembering all the courageous women who have fought or are fighting breast cancer or who will be diagnosed with breast cancer,” said Pink in the City co-founder Denise Vourtzoumis, adding that “there’s no excuse not to raise money for breast cancer.”
Relief for breast cancer patients
Dr. Sarkis Meterissian, director of the Breast Center at the MUHC, explained how the donated money is used to help provide relief to breast cancer patients under treatment.
“As survivors will tell you, chemotherapy, surgery and rehabilitation are a real pain in the you know what,” he said.
Among the guests were (from the left) Laval News publisher George Bakoyannis, Royal LePage Humana Centre real estate agent Voula Kottaridis, Pink in the City’s Denise and Bobby Vourtzoumis and Laval News editor and co-publisher George Guzmas. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Laval News)
“The money you’re giving, for which we’re very grateful, is allowing women to get back to their normal lives. Your money is paying for them to get things like dieticians, exercise, psychotherapy, kinesiology, to try and get back to the women they were before they were diagnosed. And that is not easy after all the treatments we give.”
Gala not to be missed
The 2025 Pink in the City Gala is scheduled for Friday, October 24 at the Château Royal in Chomedey/Laval, with cocktails at 6:30 pm and dinner at 7:30.
Guests enjoyed a hot buffet-style dinner of pasta and other Italian delicacies. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Laval News)
The event is presented by Pink in the City in collaboration with the MUHC Foundation to support breast cancer patient care, research and education.
The theme will be “The Magic of Hope,” celebrating survivors and honoring fighters and angels, with proceeds directly benefiting the MUHC Foundation’s Breast Center.
‘There’s still a lot that has to be done,’ former Chomedey MNA tells Concordia U audience
Are Canada’s national anthem sung at the beginning of major sports events and the “land acknowledgment” recited at the start of many public gatherings to recognize Canada’s indigenous peoples at odds with one another?
The question was one that former federal NDP leader and Chomedey Liberal MNA Tom Mulcair answered following a talk he gave on legal issues affecting indigenous rights and the environment in Canada on September 25 as a Jurist-in-Residence program guest at Concordia University.
Indigenous issues advocate
Over the course of his political career – especially at the federal level – Mulcair advocated strongly for respect for court rulings and international obligations towards Canada’s indigenous peoples, according to an iPolitics summary of the NDP’s positions under Mulcair’s leadership published in 2013, two years before the 2015 election.
Former NDP leader and Chomedey Liberal MNA Tom Mulcair continues to advocate for indigenous Canadians’ rights more than seven years after leaving politics. (Photo: Martin C. Barry, Newsfirst Multimedia)
According to CTV News report a few months before the election in which Mulcair and the NDP would suffer a major setback after finishing in a distant third-place, he advocated for a “nation-to-nation” relationship between the First Nations and the federal government.
Hollow statements
But as one attendee at Mulcair’s lecture pointed out, land acknowledgment statements, which typically refer to “unceded” lands or territory originally belonging to First Nations, tend to ring hollow in the context that no further action is being taken to restitute the First Nations.
She also suggested that some of the words in O Canada and in land acknowledgments stand in contrast if not outright contradiction to each other.
She recalled recently being at a recent hockey game in western Canada where some fans from First Nations sitting next to her were appalled that a land acknowledgment was recited just before everyone stood up for the country’s national anthem.
‘It’s not settled,’ said Mulcair
While Mulcair conceded that land acknowledgments have no binding legal effect, he maintained they still have the ability to keep within people’s minds the understanding that “this is not ours as of right – this is something that belonged to people who were there before,” he said.
“Land acknowledgments are a way of putting into the general public’s mind that we should be thinking about this stuff – that it’s not settled and that there’s still a lot that has to be done,” he continued.
“That’s the best way to look at it.” While insisting that land acknowledgments are helpful, Mulcair had nothing more to say in terms of taking the statements a step further.
‘It’s a direct attack on Bill 21,’ saysQuebec’s Secularism Minister Jean-François Roberge
Provincial leaders from Quebec and other parts of the country reacted poorly last week after federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser announced that the Liberal government is asking the Supreme Court of Canada to set limits on how the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom’s “notwithstanding” clause is used to override conflicting provincial laws.
“As Attorney General of Canada, I have filed a factum with the Supreme Court of Canada outlining Canada’s position on constitutional issues raised by the use of the notwithstanding clause,” Fraser said in a statement.
“The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a pillar of our democracy and a reflection of our shared values,” he said. “It guarantees fundamental freedoms, including freedom of thought, belief, expression, religion, and association.
Decision’s lasting impact
Federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser faces sharp criticism from several premiers of Canada’s provinces after asking the country’s Supreme Court to set limits on the in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms’s “notwithstanding” clause. (Photo: Courtesy of Sean Fraser, Facebook)
“It also guarantees equality before the law, and the right to life, liberty and security of the person. The Charter protects these rights for everyone in Canada, and they are at the heart of our democratic society.
“This case is about more than the immediate issues before the Court,” Fraser added. “The Supreme Court’s decision will shape how both federal and provincial governments may use the notwithstanding clause for years to come.”
The notwithstanding clause has proven to be controversial since its inclusion in the Charter of Rights, which was part of the Constitution of Canada enacted by Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s Liberal government in 1982. The clause was included as a political compromise to obtain the support of the provinces for the constitution and charter.
Deal broke a deadlock
The inclusion of the clause is widely viewed by political scientists and analysts today as a deal struck to break a deadlock between the federal government and the provinces during the constitutional negotiations, allowing legislatures to pass laws that temporarily override certain Charter rights if necessary.
Some, but not all, Charter rights are subject to the notwithstanding clause. The clause authorizes governments to temporarily override the rights and freedoms in sections 2 and 7 through 15 for up to five years, subject to renewal.
The notwithstanding clause has been used most often by Quebec to justify legislation deemed necessary to safeguard the French language, as well as by Alberta, which invoked notwithstanding to enshrine a definition of marriage as being exclusively heterosexual.
‘Attack on Bill 21,’ says CAQ
In Quebec within just a few hours of Fraser’s announcement, members of the Coalition Avenir Québec government weren’t mincing words when reacting to Ottawa’s intervention – especially regarding its potential impact on Bill 21, the province’s “religious symbols” secularism law.
Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette accused the federal government of not only attacking Quebec, but also of attacking the parliamentary sovereignty of the legislative assemblies of all of Canada.
“They want to break the deal that they had,” Jolin-Barrette told journalists in Quebec City, alluding to the federal government’s original intention for including the notwithstanding clause.
Quebec’s Secularism Minister Jean-François Roberge, went further, accusing the Carney government of hypocrisy.
He said the federal government claims to not be against the secularism law, while opposing the measure put in place to safeguard it. “It’s a direct attack on Bill 21,” he said. In a statement, Fraser emphasized that his request for limits is not only about Quebec’s secularism law,
‘Overreach,’ says Ontario’s Ford
In Ontario, Premier Doug Ford warned that Ottawa’s bid to curb the province’s use of notwithstanding would be an overreach his government would not tolerate, as he also maintained that provincial governments have the full political backing of voters.
“It’s way overreach with the courts,” Ford told The Toronto Star. “Again, parliament – federal parliament, provincial parliament – they’re supreme because the people are supreme, not judges ruling on stuff that shouldn’t even be in front of the courts.”
Jolin-Barrette appeared to agree with Ford. “These people have been elected by people of each province,” he said, while maintaining that the federal government was trying to use a back door in its arguments to try and rob the provincial legislatures of their powers.
Voter reminder cards may not be arriving as usual with postal service out
Quebec’s Chief Electoral Officer Jean-François Blanchet has made a special decision to allow municipalities to deliver election-related documents by means other than direct delivery to voters during the 2025 municipal general election. Blanchet says the decision was necessary given the current disruption to postal services.
“Postal services are a key element of the electoral process,” Blanchet said in a statement issued by his office.
“In the current context, municipalities, responsible for organizing their elections, will have to make considerable additional efforts to find other solutions,” he said. “I urge voters to be understanding and take the time to contact their municipality to obtain all the information they need to exercise their right to vote.”
Alternative measures
Blanchet said his decision would not prevent municipalities from delivering their documents by mail if the strike ends quickly and postal services resume as normal. But in the meantime, the chief electoral officer’s office is proposing various alternative measures.
If municipalities are able to, they are being encouraged to prioritize a solution that will ensure the delivery of two documents to voters’ doors, in accordance with the spirit of the electoral act: the notice of registration on the voters’ list and the reminder card.
The municipalities are being told they can use another delivery service or rely on their staff or a group of volunteers, for example. If they are unable to distribute personalized registration notices in the name of each voter, they can distribute a non-personalized notice to each door.
They should then allow voters to verify in person their registration on the voters’ lists, but also by telephone or online. They can also disseminate general information through posters, advertisements and their websites. If municipalities with 20,000 or more inhabitants are unable to deliver their reminder cards to voters’ doors, they must allow them to verify their polling place by telephone, according to the chief electoral officer.
Mandatory Mailings
Under the legislation respecting elections and referendums in Quebec’s municipalities, all towns and cities are required to send a notice of registration by mail to all addresses in their territory. This notice indicates the names of the electors registered on the lists of electors at each address. It may also indicate that no one is registered at that address. It also indicates where and when the board of revisors will sit. This notice should be sent between October 6 and 15, depending on the municipality.
Nearly 92 per cent of Quebec’s approximately 6.4 million electors are registered on the list of electors. Nearly 98 per cent of them are registered at the correct address. Between October 11 and 21, each municipality must hold at least two electoral list revision meetings to allow voters to register or change their registration if necessary. The locations, dates and times vary from one municipality to another.
Owners and co-owners
Élections Québec invites voters to use its online service to check their registration on the provincial electoral list. The majority of people registered on this list are also registered at the same address on their municipality’s electoral lists. However, this is not the case for people who are eligible to vote as owners or co-owners of a building or as occupants or co-occupants of a business establishment within the municipality.
In addition, anyone who has changed their address and modified their registration on the electoral list since September 5, including through the Quebec Change of Address Service (SQCA), must contact their municipality to make this change of address, even if the information is up to date on the Élections Québec website.
Make sure you are registered
Voters should not assume that they are registered on their municipality’s electoral lists, even if they voted in the last federal election, since the electoral lists used in the upcoming election are separate. No one will be able to make changes to the electoral rolls on election day. This is an important difference between federal and municipal elections.
To be eligible to vote in the 2025 municipal elections, you must meet these five conditions on the November 2, election day:
Be registered on the electoral lists of your municipality; Be 18 years of age or older; Be a Canadian citizen; Be in one of the following situations: domiciled in the municipality and, for at least 6 months, in Quebec; Be the owner of a building in the municipality or the occupant of a business establishment located within the municipality for at least 45 days. 5. And still have the right to vote (unless it has been revoked because of non-residency or other reason).
The City of Laval’s Blood Drive is back for the 52nd time. In collaboration with Héma-Québec and the Laval Rocket, the city invites residents to a major event filled with a sense of belonging on Tuesday November 4 at Place Bell.
According to the city, the goal for this major drive is to reach 550 donations. In a friendly and inspiring atmosphere, donors will have the opportunity to meet Laval Rocket players and municipal officials while performing a vital and life-saving act.
It is strongly recommended you reserve your spot now, online or by phone, although walk-ins are also possible. It should be noted that most healthy adults can donate blood.
Information on the reservation process and eligibility criteria is available on the event’s website. You can also reserve your spot by calling 1-800-343-7264 during the available time slots between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.
You can confirm your eligibility by visiting hemaquebec.ca/don-sang or calling 1-800-847-2525. The Laval Blood Drive is made possible thanks to the participation of the City of Laval, Héma-Québec and the Laval Rocket.
“Thanks to the alliance between the Laval Rocket and Héma-Québec, we are a winning team that saves lives,” says Mayor Stéphane Boyer. “The Laval Blood Drive is much more than an event: it’s a gesture of solidarity that unites our community around a vital cause. At Place Bell, every donor will be welcomed in a space designed for their comfort. Give generously.”
“The Laval Rocket organization is proud to partner with the City of Laval and Héma-Québec again this year,” says Pascal Vincent, head coach of the Laval Rocket.
“Having attended my first Laval blood drive last season, I can say that our supporters, as well as many donors, were there,” he added. “Every donation is crucial, because we all know someone who, one day or another, will need this precious gift. Come meet the team and me at Place Bell on November 4.”
“Héma-Québec is proud to partner with the City of Laval and the Rocket for the Laval Blood Drive,” says Sylvain Lauzé, blood drive consultant at Héma-Québec. “We invite you to reach out on November 4 and contribute to the health of the entire community.”
Laval takes action to sterilize and adopt stray cats;
The City of Laval and the SPCA Lanaudière Basses-Laurentides have announced the implementation of a pilot project aimed at better managing the stray cat population in Laval.
In addition to helping reduce the number of cat births through sterilization, the partnership will promote the adoption of sociable cats and offer a new life to more independent felines.
The project will be rolled out before the end of this fall in areas where the stray cat population is particularly acute, according to complaint data collected by the city over the past five years.
By concentrating efforts in these neighborhoods, says the city, it will be possible to measure the project’s impact before considering whether to expand it.
The city says it will allocate $70,000 for an initial one-year period, and this amount will be renewable for a second year depending on the results. With the investment, the city estimates it will be able to sterilize more than 300 cats per year with the voluntary cooperation of the public.
“We have heard the concerns expressed by many citizens,” says Christine Poirier, Duvernay-Pont-Viau’s city councilor, who is responsible for the cat control dossier.
“With this pilot project, conducted in partnership with the SPCA Lanaudière Basses-Laurentides, we are choosing an approach that respects animal welfare and is as efficient as possible with Laval residents’ money. This will improve both the quality of life of the animals and that of the population in our neighborhoods.”
All stray cats captured as part of the project will be sterilized and dewormed.
Unlike approaches limited to sterilizing and then releasing stray cats, the SPCA Lanaudière Basses-Laurentides program also includes an adoption component. Through this, sociable cats will be taken in by a network of foster families with a view to their permanent adoption.
As well, there will be a farm cat program, intended for semi-sociable or unadoptable cats.
This program involves their relocation to farms, barns or stables in the area after a behavioral and medical assessment.
With less than a month to go before Laval voters head to the polls, many residents admit they know little about the upcoming municipal election — or the candidates vying to run their city.
Laval’s municipal election is set for Sunday, Nov. 2, with advance voting options on Oct. 24, 26, 27 and 28. Voters will elect one mayor and 22 councillors, but conversations on the street suggest many may be unaware of even the basics.
Turnout
“No, I don’t know anything about it,” said Natan Sadi, a younger voter interviewed near theMontmorency metro station.
The 2021 municipal election in Laval saw just 28.8 per cent turnout, one of the lowest in Quebec. This year, candidates are beginning to ramp up their campaigns, but the visibility might not be reaching everyone.
Natan Sadi stands near the Montmorency metro station on Oct. 2 2025 (Matthew Daldalian, The Laval News)
Sadi said he’s seen “different photos of people and their posters” around town but wasn’t sure what party they represented.
Like many others, he said roads remain the number one issue.
“Especially like Chomedy, the roads are not too great. There’s always construction, and it seems like there’s always construction in the same spot, which is weird,” he said.
Infrastructure and roadwork have been major points in the campaign so far. Parti Laval has promised around $800 million in sewer and stormwater upgrades, while all three main parties — Mouvement lavallois, Parti Laval, and Action Laval — have made road repair part of their messaging.
Roads and safety
For many voters, the issues are clear — even if the candidates aren’t. IGA worker Nathalie Thibault said she hasn’t followed the campaign closely, and doesn’t check social media or municipal websites.
Asked about her priorities, she didn’t hesitate.
“There aren’t enough stop signs here; there are always accidents — always, always, always,” she said, pointing to traffic issues on the nearby street.
Nathalie Thibault sits near the Blvd. du Curé-Labelle IGA parking lot on Oct. 2 2025 (Matthew Daldalian, The Laval News)
Thibault also couldn’t recall the current mayor’s name, though she remembered he had visited her place of work during a previous campaign. The incumbent, Stéphane Boyer, leads Mouvement lavallois, and is running on a 57-proposal platform that includes “clean and safe neighbourhoods,” cultural investment, and improved services.
Knowing the details
Some voters, like Fadi Al-Dib, are more attuned to the race. He immediately named Boyer when asked who’s running.
“I think he’s the one who’s going to win, because his team, up to now… he’s done so many good projects,” he said.
Still, Al-Dib admitted he hasn’t looked at other parties’ platforms.
“I saw the ads, but I didn’t really see the schedules… what things they’re going to do. I didn’t get the chance.”
Fadi Al-Dib stands at the Blvd. du Curé-Labelle IGA parking lot on Oct. 2 2025 (Matthew Daldalian, The Laval News)
His concerns echoed others: road quality in Chomedey, growing congestion, and better oversight of public schools.
“There are always things that don’t work well,” he said.
Information gap
Simon Bellefeuille, a city employee, said he’s familiar with Mayor Boyer but finds overall coverage lacking.
“I think we’re not really informed about who’s running,” Bellefeuille said
That information gap comes despite an active campaign season, and information readily available online.
Simon Bellefeuille stands at the Blvd. du Curé-Labelle IGA parking lot on Oct. 2 2025 (Matthew Daldalian, The Laval News)
Campaign posters have appeared across the city. Still, residents like Bellefeuille say it doesn’t feel like enough. “Municipal elections are still important… the water you drink is municipal, the parks outside are municipal,” he added.
Boyer’s two main challengers are Claude Larochelle, leader of Parti Laval, and Frédéric Mayer of Action Laval. The latter was recently flagged by Élections Québec for offering $75 memberships — triple the legal $25 limit — a small scandal that has yet to break through to most voters.
A civic test in November
This year’s vote comes against a backdrop of ongoing debates over taxation, infrastructure, and public safety.
But the bigger question might be whether residents even show up. As of early October, election documents could face delays due to a Canada Post strike, raising another logistical hurdle for voter outreach.
Advance voting begins Oct. 24, and polls will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 2. For now, the conversations on Laval’s streets reflect a mix of civic disengagement, practical concerns, and complaints on the state of the roads.
Action Laval violated Quebec’s municipal electoral law by offering three-year party memberships for $75, according to Élections Québec.
The party’s website previously listed four membership options: $25 for one year, $50 for two years, $75 for three years, and $25 for out-of-town members. Under the Act respecting elections and referendums in municipalities (LERM), a natural person may pay a maximum of $25 per year to join a political party.
Violations
Élections Québec confirmed last week that the practice violated the law. Any amount collected above the $25 annual limit is automatically considered a political contribution and must follow the province’s strict financing rules.
The electoral body added that parties cannot collect contributions in advance, since there is no guarantee, they will still be active in future years.
Action Laval has since modified its online membership form to remove the multi-year options and limit payments to the legal $25 maximum.
Other parties’ takes
Parti Laval leader Claude Larochelle said there is no doubt about the illegality of the practice.
“The Chief Electoral Officer confirmed that this practice goes against the Act respecting elections and referendums in municipalities,” Larochelle told The Laval News. “There’s no room for doubt here.”
He also criticized Action Laval’s leadership for knowingly breaking financing rules.
“Frédéric Mayer has been active in municipal politics for many years,” Larochelle said, referring to Action Laval’s mayoral candidate and deputy director of the opposition office. “It’s well established that he and the other party leaders know the rules. Right now, Action Laval and Mr. Mayer are campaigning with illegally collected funds. They must disclose and immediately repay the money they’ve received this way.”
The governing Mouvement Lavallois, with Mayor Stéphane Boyer at the helm, gave a measured response, stating that it remained focused on its campaign and “delivering concrete improvements to residents’ quality of life.”
Previous controversy
According to Élections Québec’s public filings, Action Laval reported a $3,790 deficit as of Jan. 1, 2025.
The party has also faced a series of controversies in recent years, including councillor Paolo Galati’s taxpayer-funded grocery reimbursements and councillor Aglaia Revelakis’s departure earlier this year after denouncing the party’s internal nomination process.
An elderly resident of Saint-Judes St. in Laval’s Chomedey district was reported to be in serious condition on Wednesday morning after a fire around 9:30 pm the night before.
Fire investigators with the Laval Fire Dept. as well as with the Laval Police were reported to be working together to determine whether arson was involved in the blaze in the three-unit building, which includes a basement apartment.
The LFD reported on their X social media feed that upon their arrival, flames were visible on the second floor of the two-story building, spreading to the roof.
The occupants were evacuated, according to an LFD spokesperson, who said the building was heavily damaged.
The Canadian government’s tightening of temporary foreign worker (TFW) rules might soon reverberate across Laval’s economy.
Business leaders and economists warning of closures, lost contracts, and long-term reputational damage.
The Chamber of Commerce
Caroline de Guire, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Laval, said the restrictions touch nearly every sector of the city.
“Yes, we always hear about tourism, hotel, agriculture, caregiving. These are big ones. But because we’re in a large agglomeration in the Greater Montreal region, it really is all sectors.” she said. “Everybody is impacted.”
A survey released by the Fédération des chambres de commerce (FCCQ) found that 63% of Quebec businesses risk contract losses, production cuts or even shift closures if restrictions persist. De Guire said the risks for Laval companies, adding that another survey showed 18% of small and medium enterprises employing low-wage TFWs could close altogether.
“These people have been hired, they’ve had contracts, their contracts are up for renewal. And they’re at a standpoint where it’s a no man’s land, where they might actually not be able to keep their workforce,” she said.
The workforce
Recent examples from other regions in Quebec illustrate the potential impacts of the new restrictions. Marineau Hotels in Mauricie told Le Journal de Montréal last week it risks losing “perhaps 80% of our kitchen staff” under the new rules.
The Quebec Hotel Association said 74% of hoteliers expect major impacts within a year if restrictions remain.
Meanwhile, federal criteria now cap many employers at 10% of their workforce in TFWs, with wage thresholds cutting off access to lower-paid roles.
According to a report by Canadian immigration lawyer, Joshua Slayen, Canada’s temporary foreign worker program has expanded rapidly, with the number of workers growing from 356,000 in 2011 to 845,000 in 2021 and employer approvals reaching nearly 240,000 in 2023.
Economist perspective
Economist Moshe Lander of Concordia University said the political debate often frames TFWs as either displacing Canadians or filling roles no one else will take. In either case, he argued, restrictions carry costs.
“It’s almost irrelevant whether they’re substitutes or complements. It does damage local workers,” Lander said. “Any attempt to keep foreign workers out will ultimately hurt the local population.”
Lander explained that policymakers increasingly frame the issue beyond the labour market, emphasizing potential competition between temporary foreign workers and local residents for housing, medical services, and school spaces. He said this shift helps justify restrictions even when foreign workers are economically complementary to domestic labour.
Still, he warned that restricting entry could harm Canada’s global image. “Once that message goes out, that’s not just short-term damage that’s done, that’s medium to long-term damage,” Lander said. “Canada is now going to be seen for a generation as an unwelcoming place for foreign workers.”
De Guire rejected the notion that foreign workers take jobs away from Quebecers. “It’s not a tradeoff, it really is a compliment,” she said. She added that retail, restaurants, hospitality, logistics, and advanced manufacturing as the sectors most vulnerable to labour shortages in Laval.
“Temporary foreign workers are chosen. It’s a decision. They’re not a fallback. They are a strategic necessity,” De Guire said.
