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.
• 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 COVID-19 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.
• The Quebec Government continues to be an important partner in advancing our shared commitments to those seeking protection in Canada as well.

Responsive – Fraudulent recruitment of Indian students destined to Quebec
• We recognize that international students provide tremendous social, cultural and economic benefits to campuses and communities across Canada.
• Students who have submitted a complete study permit application online and who are destined to a designated learning institution with an approved COVID-19 readiness plan continue to be processed.
• Each application is carefully assessed on its merits, and additional checks and verifications may be necessary to ensure the application is legitimate, before a final decision is made.

Responsive – Compensation for interim housing costs for asylum
• Quebec has been a key partner in managing the flow of both regular and irregular migrants over the last few years.

• The Federal Government has concluded compensation agreements with Quebec for costs incurred between 2017 and 2020.
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 – 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 – Grant to Quebec
• The Canada-Quebec Accord is designed to ensure collaboration of both governments throughout the immigration process.
• As part of the Accord, the federal government provides an annual grant to Quebec, which supports the delivery of settlement and integration services in the province.

Responsive – Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) Program Suspension
• The Government of Canada is aware of the concerns of the Quebec Government regarding fraud in their PSR program, and supports their efforts to fully investigate and resolve these issues. The selection of privately sponsored refugees destined to Quebec and the eligibility of their sponsors fall under Quebec jurisdiction.

Canada-Quebec Accord: roles and responsibilities

• The Canada-Quebec Accord came into force in 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 economic immigrants and resettled refugees destined to that province and the federal government selects other permanent resident programs (family class, protected persons). Both governments jointly administer the International Student and Temporary Foreign Worker programs.

• The federal government remains responsible for determining the admissibility (for health, security, and criminality) 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.

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

Compensation for interim housing costs for asylum seekers

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

• Between 2017 and 2019, more than 85,000 asylum seekers made a claim in Quebec (50,000 between ports of entry, and 35,000 at official land and air ports of entry). It is estimated that 60% of these asylum seekers remained in the province.

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

• In late March 2021, the federal government provided $94 million in compensation for interim housing costs incurred by the province in 2019 and $30 million for 2020.

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 $650 million under the Accord in 2020-2021, a $58 million increase compared to 2019-2020, 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 2018-2019, five 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 invested $730 million over five years to expand its settlement services, including to temporary foreign workers and international students, who now have access to full-time or part-time French language training, to help them eventually qualify for permanent residence.

• As part of its 2021 Budget, Quebec announced an additional investment of $246 million over 2021 to 2023 to better support immigrants integrating into the labour market, particularly in regions (e.g. skills recognition, French learning and attraction and retention of foreign students).

• Recent media coverage highlighted the fact that Quebec is receiving a significantly higher amount of funding to settle immigrants than what is provided to service provider organizations in other provinces and territories. In 2021-2022, the federal government plans to invest approximately $119 million in British Columbia and more than $407 million in Ontario for settlement services, compared to $650 million to Quebec which covers resettlement, settlement and administration costs.

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 higher-skilled occupation; and to hold such a position at the time of their application.

2021 Immigration Levels Plan

• On October 29, 2020, Quebec tabled its 2021 immigration levels plan, which increases admissions to up to 47,500 in 2021 (from a range of 43,000 – 44,500 admissions in 2020). Increases are in the economic category only, with no growth in the family class and refugee category.

• The pandemic has had a significant impact on the delivery of Quebec’s immigration plan for 2020, similar to the federal plan. Quebec’s 2020 shortfall will be carried over to 2021 and 2022 admissions. As such, Quebec has also planned an additional 7,000 admissions in carry-over from 2020, which brings there overall range to 51,500 – 54,500.

• Quebec 2021 immigration levels plan admission ranges in the main immigration categories are as follows:
o Economic: 27,500 – 29,300 (+4,600 in carry-over from 2020, for a maximum range of 33,900))
o Family Class: 9,700 – 10,200 (+1,550 in carry-over from 2020, for a maximum range of 11 750)
o Refugees: 6,900 – 7,500 (+850 in carry-over from 2020, for a maximum range of 8,350)

• By 2022, 65% of Quebec’s overall immigration levels are projected to be economic immigration.

Quebec’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program

• Resettled refugees destined to Québec fall under the Canada-Québec Accord. While IRCC determines who is a refugee and whether the refugee is admissible, Quebec selects all refugees destined to the province.

• By extension, Quebec is responsible for assessing all sponsorship applications submitted on behalf of refugees overseas destined to Québec by sponsoring groups located in that province.

• In October 2020, the Quebec government announced that it was suspending private sponsorship of refugees by organizations for one year following the emergence of serious program integrity concerns. Until November 2021, only groups of 2-5 people will be able to sponsor refugees under Quebec’s private sponsorship program.

• Recent reports in the media indicate that higher education institutions and advocacy groups have been advocating for an exemption from the suspension for refugees sponsored through World University Service Canada’s (WUSC) Student Refugee Program. On March 10, Quebec agreed to grant an exemption to WUSC sponsored refugees.

• This program has been operating for over 40 years across Canada, having brought over 2000 refugees to Canada to pursue higher education. Their innovative sponsorship model has been lauded internationally as a unique way to expand protection space while improving integration outcomes.

• While WUSC is a Sponsorship Agreement Holder under the PSR program federally, their activities in Quebec fall under Quebec’s private sponsorship program.

Study permit processing of Indian students destined to Quebec

• In November 2020, three international student recruiters were indicted and charged with fraud forgery and breach of trust by Quebec’s Unité permanent anticorruption (UPAC). They are alleged to have falsified documents to attract international students, particularly from India.

• Following the indictment and charges, in December 2020, Quebec paused the processing of “Certificats d’acceptation du Québec” (CAQ) applications from international students destined to ten designate learning institutions (DLIs).

• In January 2021, further to a Court ruling, the province resumed accepting and processing of CAQs for study permits associated with these colleges. Investigations from the Quebec authorities into recruitment practices are ongoing.

• The Department is monitoring the situation.

• While Quebec’s investigation is ongoing, additional checks and verifications may be necessary for officers to reach final decisions in these cases, resulting in slower processing.

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