possible legal challenge.<\/a><\/p>\n“I want to tell people not to give up, that they’re not alone and I don’t want them to feel abandoned,” Belaid said.<\/p>\n
![\"Soraya](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769091249_150_default.jpg\")
Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Montreal’s mayor, has expressed a willingness to speak to the Quebec government to address some of her concerns about the end of the PEQ. (Ivanoh Demers\/CBC)It’s not just newcomers that are angry<\/p>\n
People in Belaid and Mahi’s situation have received public support \u2014 lots of it. <\/p>\n
The government’s plan and its refusal to compromise have been criticized from several angles: unions, business groups and even some of the province’s most high-profile mayors.<\/p>\n
Montreal’s Soraya Martinez Ferrada said last month that she would be an ally to the immigrants dealing with an uncertain future and attempt to speak to the CAQ government about their concerns. <\/p>\n
Quebec City’s Bruno Marchand has been a vocal critic, saying the province is turning its back on people who have proven to be assets.<\/p>\n
“We have immigrants here that are established, that speak French and contribute to our economy,” he said. “You create uncertainty for these people, uncertainty on a human level and uncertainty for our businesses.”<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769091249_126_default.jpg\")
A woman holds a sign at the Nov. 17 protest that states that immigrants who have learned French and integrated into Quebec society are being abandoned by the government. (Samir Bendjafer\/Radio-Canada)<\/p>\n
In December, Sherbrooke’s city council passed a motion declaring its support for those affected by the end of the PEQ.<\/p>\n
V\u00e9ronique Proulx, the head of the Quebec federation of chambers of commerce, says many companies, in all sectors of activity, are at risk of losing workers due to the end of the PEQ. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe PEQ program was a way to give certainty to our companies, to the employees and having a positive impact on the economy of our regions,” she said. <\/p>\n
WATCH | Montreal bakery at risk of losing many employees:![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769091250_746_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Businesses at risk of losing staff after Quebec slashes program for permanent residency<\/p>\n
Quebec\u2019s decision to slash a pathway to permanent residency is being felt by some businesses. A bakery in Montreal says it could lose several staff members, and workers could be kicked out of the country. New premier, new approach?<\/p>\n
Proulx says business groups intend to make this an election issue this year.<\/p>\n
She and others sense a potential opening with Fran\u00e7ois Legault stepping down as premier and the CAQ’s leader.<\/p>\n
Legault shot down calls for people who were already living in Quebec to be exempt from the new immigration rules.<\/p>\n
Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, the immigration critic for opposition party Qu\u00e9bec Solidaire, wants the PEQ program to be reinstated and says the next CAQ leader and premier should try to keep an open mind.<\/p>\n
“Civil society is unanimous: the PEQ has to come back. It’s the only way,” said Cliche-Rivard.<\/p>\n
“I hope the next leader of the CAQ will be reasonable.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In November, the Quebec government abolished a popular pathway to permanent residency, known as the Programme de l’exp\u00e9rience…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-425984","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769091248_625_default.jpg\")
The future of Nadir Belaid, who moved to Quebec from Algeria in 2019, is up in the air after the PEQ was abolished. Belaid, seen here at a protest in downtown Montreal on Nov. 17, 2025, is a spokesperson for the group Le Quebec c’est nous aussi, which essentially means ‘We are also part of Quebec.’ (Samir Bendjafer\/Radio-Canada)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769091248_126_default.jpg\")
Ben Mahi, 36, is a lab technician. He says the end of the PEQ amounts to a broken promise by the Quebec government. (Rowan Kennedy\/CBC)<\/p>\n