The federal Minister of Immigration, Marc Miller, and his provincial counterparts agreed Friday on the creation of a working committee which will look into the question of the geographic distribution of asylum seekers in the country.
The initiative, launched by Quebec Minister of Immigration Christine Fréchette, should ultimately make it possible to better distribute asylum seekers, who are currently over-represented in Quebec and Ontario.
“It is no secret that Quebec and Ontario have welcomed a disproportionate number of asylum seekers and that this has impacted health services, education and the housing market. Quebec is well placed to welcome these asylum seekers, just like the rest of Canada, but there are reception capacity issues. Their number is significant and it has been increasing in recent years,” mentioned Minister Miller at the end of the forum of ministers responsible for immigration, held in Montreal.
Marc Miller indicated that Quebec and Ontario have done “more than their share” in welcoming asylum seekers in recent years and that other provinces had “raised their hands” to receive more, particularly in the Atlantic.
This announcement was welcomed by his Quebec counterpart, who described it as “an important step forward” and who sees it as “a recognition of the disproportionate weight [qui pèse] on Quebec and Ontario regarding the reception of asylum seekers.
According to Minister Fréchette, the consultation table will make it possible to “better coordinate the flow of asylum seekers throughout Canada and to ensure that the resources to support this flow are available.”
No timeline has been determined at this time.
Minister Fréchette notably cited similar mechanisms within the European Union, Germany and Switzerland as potential sources of inspiration.
“We will draw inspiration from what is done abroad and what fits best with Canadian dynamics. Different provinces will have particular concerns about the type of asylum seekers they want prioritized. This is our case,” she said, citing the French language as a criterion for reception in Quebec.
Mr. Miller assured that the movement of a province would be done with the consent of the people concerned and in a “humane” manner.
Persistent disagreement
Quebec and Ottawa still need to agree on the number of these asylum seekers.
Recently, the office of Immigration Minister Christine Fréchette maintained that Quebec welcomed approximately 45% of all asylum seekers from Canada in 2023 and 64% in 2022.
However, according to open data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) consulted by The dutywhich take into account interprovincial migration, Quebec had instead received on its territory in 2023 35% of asylum seekers from all of Canada.
Still according to these data, between a quarter and a third of applicants leave Quebec for other provinces after their arrival.
“Many temporary migrants arrive in Montreal-Trudeau and, for one reason or another, go to Ontario. We must calculate them adequately when allocating resources,” insisted Minister Miller.
“It’s not necessarily where people first apply, but where they reside, to really reflect the impact on a particular jurisdiction. »