Question Period Note: QUEBEC IMMIGRATION

Canada-Québec Accord and immigration-related issues

• The governments of Canada and Quebec have a long history of collaborating to advance shared and respective immigration priorities.
• IRCC’s bilateral relationship with Quebec is defined by the 1991 Canada-Quebec Accord, and guided by the principle that immigration should support the preservation of Quebec’s demographic weight in Canada and its distinct identity.
• The Accord is designed to ensure collaboration between both governments throughout the immigration process, in all immigration categories.

Responsive –settlement spending
• Quebec received $697 million under the Accord in 2021-2022, a $47 million increase from 2020-2021.
• Funding is not tied to the total number of newcomers entering Quebec in any given year. The grant can never decrease, and the amount established in the previous year becomes the baseline for the next year.
• 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.

Reponsive - Family Reunification

• I am aware that Quebec has indicated an interest in selecting family members who intend to immigrate there.

• Any proposed change requires further analysis in the context of existing agreements with Quebec and our national immigration framework.

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 22%), with the right to exceed this figure by five per cent for demographic reasons, and can select certain classes of immigrants destined to the province. The overall share of immigrants to Quebec in 2022 is expected to be approximately 12%, based on the targets in the province’s levels plan.

• Quebec selects economic immigrants and resettled refugees destined to that province and the federal government selects permanent residents in the family class and protected persons. Both governments jointly administer the International Student and Temporary Foreign Worker programs.

• The federal government remains responsible for determining the admissibility (i.e., 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 requires agreement of both parties to amend.

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 $697 million under the Accord in 2021-2022, a $47 million increase from 2020-2021.

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

• Funding is not tied to the total number of newcomers entering Quebec in any given year. The grant can never decrease, and the amount established in the previous year becomes the baseline for the next year.

• 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. The last comparative study covers the period from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021, including key changes that occurred during the pandemic year. The report is expected to be tabled in fall 2022.

2022 Immigration Levels Plan

• On October 28, 2021, Quebec tabled its 2022 immigration levels plan. Quebec’s immigration levels targets are incorporated into the federal levels plan.

• The pandemic has had a significant impact on the delivery of Quebec’s immigration plan for 2020 and 2021, similar to the federal plan. Quebec’s 2020 and 2021 shortfalls have been carried over in addition to the 2022 original targets set by the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI).

• For 2022, the maximum in the overall admission range in Quebec’s levels plan including carry-over is 70,500.

• Sixty-six percent of Quebec’s overall immigration levels is economic immigration in 2022, compared to 56.6% in 2022 at the federal level.

Asylum Seekers

• Quebec is an essential partner in the management of irregular migration flows and providing temporary housing, social services and education to asylum seekers.

• Quebec is the province most directly affected by asylum claims between designated ports of entry. Since 2017, 95% of arrivals between ports of entry have been intercepted in Quebec.

• 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.

• Quebec has seen a significant increase of asylum claims made by claimants arriving between ports of entry since the reopening of the border due to the pandemic and the lifting of the direct back arrangement on November 21, 2021. From November 2021 to October 10th 2022, more than 31,000 individuals have claimed asylum between ports of entry.

• Consequently, IRCC has increased its hotel capacity in the Greater Montreal Area in order to provide temporary accommodations and support services to unvaccinated asylum claimants who do not have a suitable place to quarantine. With the lifting of the border restrictions as of October 1st, 2022, IRCC will continue to provide temporary accommodation and support services to asylum claimants [REDACTED].

• Officials from both departments are meeting frequently to discuss contingency planning and asylum claim updates.

• The federal government provided a total of $374 million in compensation to Quebec for costs incurred by the province to provide services to asylum claimants for 2017-2020 arrivals.
Afghan refugee resettlement

• IRCC and the Quebec government have been engaging regularly at the ADM and working levels to exchange information and provide advance notice of policy, settlement and operational issues.

• Quebec is supportive of current policies to resettle Afghan refugees and had agreed to welcome Afghan refugees within the parameters of its 2022 levels plan.

• Quebec 2022 immigration levels plan admission ranges for overall Government Assisted Refugee is 1,650-1700 (+200 in carry-over from 2020 and 2021, for a maximum range of 1,900).

• In 2021, IRCC had challenges in identifying Afghan refugees willing to settle in Quebec. A possible explanation is that refugees choose their final destination based on ties and linkages and only a very small number of Afghan people currently reside in Quebec. Additionally, Afghan refugees are more likely to speak English than French.

Family reunification

• Under the Canada-Quebec Accord, Canada has sole responsibility for the selection and admission of family class immigrants. Quebec, however, has the authority to determine and assess the financial criteria for family class sponsorship agreements.

• The authority to define who is eligible to immigrate to Canada in the family class has been kept at the national level to ensure that parameters remain the same across the country. If requirements were less generous in one part of Canada than another (e.g. imposing a language requirement for those destined to Quebec), family class sponsors would easily be able to circumvent the more stringent requirements by temporarily relocating to another province.

• As there have been media declarations by Quebec’s newly reelected Premier Legault [REDACTED], it is worth noting that an amendment to the Canada-Quebec Accord and/or legislative amendments would be required. [REDACTED]

Responsive – Asylum Seekers
• On November 21, 2021, the prohibition on entering Canada from the U.S. between land ports of entry for the purposes of making an asylum claim ended.

• The majority of asylum claimants entering Canada between designated ports of entry have been intercepted in Quebec, both prior to border closures due to COVID-19 and following the border reopening on November 21, 2021.

• The Government of Canada has put in place contingency plans to manage volumes at the border. Since March 2020, the Government of Canada provided temporary accommodations and support services to asylum claimants who did not have a suitable quarantine plan until these requirements were lifted on October 1, 2022.

• With the surge in arrivals at Roxham Road since the border reopened and the resulting pressures on Quebec’s shelter system, IRCC also provided temporary accommodations and support services to asylum claimants who are fully vaccinated or who have completed their quarantine period. In addition, some claimants have been transferred to IRCC hotel sites in Ontario.

• IRCC will continue to provide accommodations support for asylum seekers arriving in the Province of Quebec even though the pandemic-related Order-in-Councils have ended. This will continue to alleviate pressure on Quebec’s shelter system in the interim.

• Quebec is an essential partner in managing the flow of irregular migrants and in providing temporary accommodations, social services and education to asylum seekers.

Interim Housing Assistance Program (IHAP)
• Between 2017 and 2020, the Federal Government provided $374 million in compensation to Quebec for costs incurred by the province to provide interim housing related services to asylum claimants.
• The Federal Government and Quebec are still in discussions regarding compensation for costs associated with the influx of asylum seekers in 2021.
• If pressed: The Federal Government has yet to receive a submission from Quebec regarding its costs for 2021.