Also on November 7, Québec unveiled a separate rule mandating that foreign workers who have accumulated three years of employment in the province must demonstrate spoken French at NCLC level 4 to renew or obtain a new TFWP permit after 17 December 2025.
The measure aligns with Bill 96, Québec’s broad language-protection law, and aims to ensure integration into Francophone workplaces. Transitional provisions will give current workers until December 2025 to upskill; newcomers planning multi-year assignments must now factor language training into mobility budgets.
![French-Language Requirement Introduced for Long-Term Temporary Workers in Québec]()
Industries reliant on rotational or seasonal crews—such as warehousing and food processing—face additional costs for tuition and testing. Some employers are negotiating group classes with local Cégeps, while large manufacturers consider moving high-value roles to bilingual regions outside Québec.
From a compliance lens, HR teams should track employee tenure and schedule official language assessments well before the three-year mark. Failure to meet the requirement could trigger permit refusal and force costly repatriations.
The change reinforces a growing patchwork of provincial rules overlaying federal immigration programs, underscoring the need for province-specific mobility playbooks.
The measure aligns with Bill 96, Québec’s broad language-protection law, and aims to ensure integration into Francophone workplaces. Transitional provisions will give current workers until December 2025 to upskill; newcomers planning multi-year assignments must now factor language training into mobility budgets.
Industries reliant on rotational or seasonal crews—such as warehousing and food processing—face additional costs for tuition and testing. Some employers are negotiating group classes with local Cégeps, while large manufacturers consider moving high-value roles to bilingual regions outside Québec.
From a compliance lens, HR teams should track employee tenure and schedule official language assessments well before the three-year mark. Failure to meet the requirement could trigger permit refusal and force costly repatriations.
The change reinforces a growing patchwork of provincial rules overlaying federal immigration programs, underscoring the need for province-specific mobility playbooks.
