(Montreal) Temporary immigration must be addressed during the multi-year consultation on immigration which will take place this fall, demand opposition MPs. The Minister of Immigration, Francisation and Integration, Christine Fréchette, refused to allow this issue to be discussed during the study of her party’s budget appropriations on Thursday.
“Now it’s temporary that we have in Quebec. So we can no longer have a good portrait of the immigrants who settle here,” said Monsef Derraji, Liberal Party spokesperson for immigration, in an interview. “The exercise will be incomplete, and the results will be skewed,” he added.
During the study of budgetary appropriations, Minister Fréchette revealed that nearly 300,000 temporary immigrants were in Quebec in December 2022.
The Member of Parliament for Québec solidaire, Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, also asked the Minister that temporary immigration be addressed during the multi-year consultation, which will define the province’s orientations in terms of immigration between 2024 and 2027. He hopes that a “guideline” be established concerning the targets of temporary immigrants, including foreign students and workers.
“What I would ask you today [c’est] a commitment together, so that we can have your forecast targets temporarily, and not just permanently,” said Mr. Cliche-Rivard.
“It’s obvious that the context is important when you do this kind of exercise,” replied M.me Fréchette to the united deputy, during the study of the budgetary appropriations, without accepting that permanent immigration is directly at the heart of the multiannual consultation. “As for the orientations as such, for multi-year planning, this one concerns permanent immigration,” she added.
The Minister of Immigration also mentioned that temporary immigration reflects “the specific needs of businesses”. “It’s important to ensure that companies can be nimble in finding the talent they need to continue to grow,” said Ms.me Frechette.
For Monsef Derraji, however, temporary immigration must be at the heart of the discussions in order to anticipate the needs of these immigrants in terms of services.
“We cannot ignore, in the development of our public policies, ranging from immigration to housing, to take into consideration the arrival of temporary immigrants, temporary workers”, he mentioned.
This dispatch was produced with financial assistance from the Meta Exchange and The Canadian Press for News.