Question Period Note: QUEBEC IMMIGRATION

Canada-Quebec relationship on immigration matters

• The governments of Canada and Quebec recognize the important role that immigration plays in building prosperous communities.

• The Quebec government continues to be an important partner in advancing our shared commitments to those seeking protection in Canada.

• The Government of Quebec is advancing changes to support the responsiveness of its immigration system to economic needs.

• This government will work with Quebec to ensure that immigration continues to contribute to our economy and that newcomers have the support they need.

Responsive – Quebec PSR Cap
• This is a matter for the government of Quebec, which has full jurisdiction for selecting resettled refugees, including privately sponsored refugees, and for determining how many applications it will accept under this program each year.
Responsive – Quebec values test
• Quebec has sole responsibility for developing selection criteria for economic immigrants to that province.
• The values test has been put in place as part of the criteria Quebec has chosen to establish.

Responsive – Compensation for asylum
• We have committed to discussions with Quebec on the costs they have incurred for the housing of asylum seekers in 2019.

Responsive – Irregular migrants at the border
• Although the number of irregular asylum seekers remains relatively low, the Government of Canada has put in place contingency plans to manage volumes at the border, and we remain open to collaboration with impacted jurisdictions.

Responsive – Greater control over Temporary Foreign Workers
• The Government of Canada will continue to discuss ways to ensure the admission of Temporary Foreign Workers to Canada supports our labour market needs in cases where Canadians are not available to do the job in question or otherwise when there is a significant benefit to Canada.
• I would defer any questions specific to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to my colleague, the Minister of Labour.

Canada-Quebec Accord: roles and responsibilities

• The Canada-Quebec Accord came into force in April 1991. The objectives of the Accord are to preserve Quebec’s demographic weight within Canada and support the integration of immigrants, while respecting its distinct identity. To this end, Quebec can receive a percentage of all immigrants coming to Canada equal to the percentage of its demographic weight in Canada (currently 23%), and can select certain classes of immigrants destined to the province.

• Quebec selects all immigrants destined to that province, except for those in the family class and protected persons. However, the federal government remains responsible for determining the admissibility of all immigrants to Quebec and for issuing permanent resident visas.

• While the federal government is responsible for establishing annually the total number of immigrants for the country as a whole, it takes Quebec’s advice into consideration on the number of immigrants that it wishes to receive in all classes.

• The Accord can only be modified with the agreement of the Government of Quebec.

Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) in Quebec

• Following a moratorium on PSR application intake from January 2017 until September 2018, MIFI adopted the Regulation Respecting Immigration to Québec, which included the implementation of annual caps on streams under this program to facilitate intake and inventory management. MIFI’s caps for 2020 appear to be the same as they were in 2019. There has been significant media attention in recent weeks on the pressure MIFI is facing (e.g. long line-ups to submit applications), as interest in this program is high.

Asylum seekers

• Quebec has been a key partner in managing the flow of irregular migrants and providing temporary housing, social services and education to asylum seekers.

• Since 2017, Quebec is hosting a significant number of asylum seekers waiting for their claims to be assessed. From 2017 to 2019 inclusively, 53,490 asylum seekers were intercepted in Quebec. It is estimated that 60% of these asylum seekers remain in the province.

• In 2019, the federal government provided $250M in compensation to Quebec for costs incurred by the province to provide services to asylum claimants in 2017 and 2018.

• The federal government is committed to discussion with Quebec on their 2019 costs once final numbers are known.

Funding under the Canada-Quebec Accord

• As part of the Accord, the federal government provides an annual grant to Quebec, which notionally supports the delivery of settlement and integration services in the province.

• Quebec received approximately $560 million under the Accord in 2018-2019, a $70 million increase compared to 2017-2018, as a result of the funding formula in the Accord.

• The funding formula in the Accord is based on two factors: the variation in federal expenditures (i.e., federal spending) and the variation in the number of non-French speaking immigrants admitted to Quebec.

• Funding is therefore not tied to the total number of newcomers entering Quebec in any given year.

• The grant can never decrease, since the amount established in the previous year becomes the baseline for the next year. The amount of the grant is not directly linked to provincial immigrant intake.

• While Quebec is not accountable to the federal government for how it spends the grant it receives under the Accord, Quebec must provide settlement and integration services that are comparable to the rest of the country.

• From 2013-2014 to 2016-2017, four comparative studies of settlement and integration services were conducted and consistently concluded that there was an overall high level of alignment of services between Canada and Quebec.

• In 2019, Quebec committed $730M over five years to enhance settlement services.

Introduction of Bill 9

• In June 2019, the government of Quebec adopted Bill 9, which lays the legislative groundwork for revamping its immigration system, allowing for the imposition of conditions on foreign nationals in order to be selected for immigration to Quebec (for example, French language proficiency and knowledge of Quebec values).

• Quebec is considering options to ensure a better alignment between immigration selection and labour market needs, and to improve integration outcomes. Quebec has already temporarily reduced its immigration levels and is expanding settlement services, including French language training, to temporary foreign workers to eventually qualify them for permanent residence.

• In November 2019, Quebec tabled regulatory changes to support the implementation of the Quebec values test, which came into effect on January 1, 2020. This change applies to economic immigrants only, and falls within Quebec’s authority.

2020 Immigration Levels Plan

• On October 30, 2019, Quebec tabled its 2020 immigration levels plan. This plan confirms that Quebec will seek to progressively increase its admissions to an overall range of 43,000 – 44,500 admissions in 2020 (from a range of 38,000 – 42,000 admissions in 2019). Increases are largely in the economic category, with modest growth in the family class and no growth in the refugee class.

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