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.

• We are pleased to work hand-in-hand with the Government of Quebec as we assess how immigration can address our economic needs, in light of the impact the COVID pandemic has had on the labour market in Quebec.

• We are committed to working with Quebec to ensure that immigration continues to contribute to our economy and that newcomers have the support they need.

Responsive – Guardian Angels
• On Aug. 14, IRCC announced a temporary public policy to provide a pathway to permanent residence for asylum claimants across the country working in Canada’s health care sector during COVID-19.
• We have worked closely with our provincial partners, including Quebec, to recognize those who are working hard on the front-lines to keep Canadians safe and healthy, and will continue to do so as we implement this temporary public policy.
• The application process for this initiative will open up in the coming months.

Responsive – Compensation for asylum
• Discussions with Quebec on the costs they have incurred for the housing of asylum seekers in 2019 are ongoing.

Responsive – Irregular migrants at the border
• The Government of Canada has put in place contingency plans to manage volumes at the border once border restrictions are lifted, and we remain open to collaboration with impacted jurisdictions.

Responsive – [REDACTED] 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 Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion.

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.

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.

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 irregular 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 in discussions with Quebec on their 2019 costs.

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.

Bill 9 and changes to Quebec immigration regime

• In June 2019, the government of Quebec adopted Bill 9, which laid 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).

• With this new legislative framework, Quebec wanted to ensure a better alignment between immigration selection and labour market needs, and improve integration outcomes. In order to achieve this, Quebec temporarily reduced its immigration levels and expanded its 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.

• In July 2020, regulatory changes to Quebec’s in-Canada selection program for economic immigrants, the Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ) came into effect. Among the key changes to this program, Quebec now requires:
o international students to have full-time work experience (12 months for university and college graduates, 18 months for professional studies graduates) to be eligible to the PEQ;
o temporary foreign workers to have held full-time employment in Quebec for at least 24 of the last 36 months preceding the submission of their application in a NOC 0, A or B occupation; and to hold such a position at the time of their application.

2021 Immigration Levels Plan

• Quebec’s 2021 immigration levels are still forthcoming; however, Quebec’s 2019 levels public consultation document pointed to a range of 44,500 to 47,500 overall admissions in 2021, with increases in the economic category only, and no growth in family and refugee categories compared to 2020.

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