Quebec’s most sweeping revision of the language law in nearly half a century has caused concern in the province’s domestic technology companies, whose executives say stepping up requirements for immigrants and businesses to use French threatens to cause huge and lasting financial damage. . Leaders of 37 Quebec-based tech companies are calling for a freeze on controversial language law Bill 96 until the government of Prime Minister François Legault implements French language courses and other tools that businesses need to comply with. . Without that support, executives say, the industry’s top talent will simply not move to Quebec and the province’s companies will transfer some of their future investments and staff elsewhere. “If the best and smartest innovators, technologists and business builders are attracted to Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver and Halifax instead of Montreal and Quebec, it will permanently damage our province’s economic well-being,” the leaders said in an open letter to Mr Legault, which was released on Tuesday. “This is already happening, but it is not too late to change course.” Canadian tech industry hits hard as wave of layoffs approaches, industry say Quebec companies are looking for workers as the province focuses on French-speaking immigrants The warning is one of the most important yet by the business community about legislation, which is going to affect a wide range of daily life in Quebec, from the way people receive medical care to the way courts work. The fact that the leaders of some of the fastest growing companies in the province are willing to speak out in public suggests that Legault’s government, now preparing to win elections in October, has not addressed their concerns about the possible consequences. of Bill 96. Executives include native French speakers such as Louis Têtu, of the business software company Coveo Solutions Inc. CVO-T. Eric Boyko, of Stingray Digital Group Inc. RAY-AT; and Germain Lamonde, of EXFO Inc., a telecommunications testing equipment and software vendor in Quebec City. In the letter, they state that they are not against the spirit of the law, but demand better planning to ensure that the law does not create more problems than it solves. Several of them companies whose leaders oppose law enforcement have received funding from the province, either through tax deductions or through the government arm Investissement Québec, which provides subsidies, equity contributions and credits. Others have received venture capital from the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the province’s public pension management giant. “This is an existential crisis for Quebec technology companies,” said Ben Bergen, chairman of the Canadian Innovators Council, which has 19 companies that signed the letter. “As the government moves forward with this severe restriction, it could really deal a blow to Quebec’s technological ecosystem.” The Quebec government passed Bill 96 in late May in a bid to correct a language issue that it says is far removed from the use and adoption of French in everyday life. The new legislation includes measures to make French “significantly dominant” in branding and obliges companies with 25 to 49 employees to meet French language certification obligations under the same strict standards that previously applied to companies with 50 to 99 employees. . Under the new law, the government will set up a new administrative unit within Quebec’s immigration department called the Francisation Québec. His responsibilities I will include coordinating and offering French learning services for people who cannot speak the common language of Quebec. However, the unit will not be released until June next year, according to OQLF’s Quebec language enforcement website. “In fact, Bill 96 already imposes a command to learn French without offering additional support,” the technology leaders said in a letter to the prime minister. “By the time your government sets up the Québec Francis, the law will have already discouraged global workers from choosing Quebec as a new place to build a life and raise a family. “This has a direct impact on the competitiveness and attractiveness of the most critical sectors and the most promising Quebec companies.” Many corporate leaders in the province have voiced support for strengthening the French language, although they warn that the new legislation could impose additional costs on companies and complicate their recruitment efforts at a time when Canada is in dire need. workforce. Among the most critical changes is that immigrants settling in Quebec will not be able to do business with the government in a language other than French if they have been in the province for more than six months. Technology leaders say this has thrown recruitment efforts into chaos, especially since companies may not have access to proper language training even if they are willing to pay for it themselves because of the demand for these services. has exceeded supply. Without this backstop, Quebec companies will start considering opening offices in other parts of the country and relocating staff, Mr Bergen said. He said some may find it difficult to leave Quebec. The Montreal Cancer Drug Development Company Repare Therapeutics Inc. RPTX-Q displays the status. The company announced earlier this month that it had entered into a major deal with pharmaceutical giant F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG to develop and market the Montreal startup camonsertib. The agreement is extremely important for the company. Repare CEO Lloyd Segal said he would love to attract more international experts to Quebec to work on the deal. But the clarity it could offer these people in previous years about their working and living conditions – in other words, how they would work in French – has become blurred, he said. And so Repare may have no choice but to hire more people for its Boston office instead of its Montreal headquarters, he said. Quebec was the best place in the world to grow a technology company because of its diversity and its highly educated and tech-savvy population, Segal said. “The danger here is a quiet exit for some of the most valuable growing businesses Quebec can ever set up,” he added. “No one will advertise that he chose to add 20 people to Toronto or Boston or Vancouver. You will not read it in the newspaper. Memos will not be leaked. It will just happen. “ Your time is precious. 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