(Quebec) The Legault government is catching up on immigration by raising the threshold planned for next year by 18,000 people. Quebec is doing this to compensate those who did not receive their permanent residence in 2020 due to the pandemic, which caused it to miss its target that year.
In 2022, according to the planned multi-year planning, Quebec must welcome between 49,500 and 52,500 immigrants. The provincial government finally wants to receive 18,000 more, asking Ottawa to admit up to 70,500 permanent residents in Quebec next year.
In Quebec’s Immigration Plan for the year 2022, tabled Thursday at the Salon Bleu, the government explains that these 18,000 additional people represent the difference between what was expected as the number of immigrants in 2020 and the actual number that has finally been admitted. For the year 2021, Quebec expects to receive the number of immigrants provided for in its multi-year planning, that is to say between 44,500 and 47,600.
Immigration is a shared jurisdiction between Quebec and Ottawa. According to the agreement between the two governments, the province grants Quebec Selection Certificates (CSQ) to economic immigrants it chooses for its territory, according to its own criteria. The federal government then gives them permanent residence, allowing these immigrants to come and settle in Quebec.
When it came to power, the Coalition Avenir Québec temporarily lowered the thresholds for immigrants admitted to the province, claiming that the province exceeded its “integration capacity” under previous Liberal governments. The reduction of the thresholds was then denounced by economic circles, who rejoice Thursday that the government is catching up with the delay in the number of immigrants received since the start of the pandemic according to thresholds that had previously been reduced.
“A third of SMEs have to refuse sales and contracts and postpone business projects due to the labor shortage. The targets, including catching up, are necessary and will help small and medium-sized businesses in Quebec hampered by staff shortages. This announcement is good news for Quebec entrepreneurs, ”said the Quebec vice-president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB), François Vincent.
“Catching up next year on all immigration applications that had not been completed in the past two years was absolutely essential. In the context of the current scarcity of manpower, the addition of these 18,000 people to the 52,000 scheduled for 2022 is excellent news, ”said Michel Leblanc, President and CEO. of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal.