(Quebec) Marc Tanguay acknowledges that the “capacity to integrate” immigrants in Quebec, particularly in order to provide them with public services, is outdated. He proposes creating a new “integrated planning office” within the Quebec Ministry of Immigration to define the province’s reception capacity, economic needs and to set adequate immigration thresholds, both permanent and temporary.
The interim leader of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) put this proposal into play Tuesday in parliament during a first press briefing in Quebec City since the summer break. The subject of immigration is likely to mark the next parliamentary session, which will begin on September 10, in the context where the Legault government must announce its immigration threshold for the year 2025 by November.
Last January, during the last pre-sessional caucus of his political party, Marc Tanguay stated that Quebec could not reduce the number of temporary or permanent immigrants it welcomes each year, and that it was even necessary to welcome more to meet economic needs.
“We will have no choice for our economy” to welcome more, he said. On Tuesday, Mr. Tanguay once again cited the forecasts made by the Quebec government, which predicts that “nearly 1.6 million jobs” will have to be filled in Quebec during the period 2022 to 2031 “by people who are not currently in the labour market.”
According to him, adding an integrated planning office within the Ministry of Immigration would make it possible to measure economic needs, to note the province’s immediate reception capacity and to act to increase it, if necessary.
But right now, “based on our ability to integrate, of course, there is a loss of control,” he admits.
In the spring of 2023, the Liberals also tabled a bill to have the government include temporary foreign workers in its immigration planning. Last week, Premier François Legault announced a first step toward reducing their number in the province by introducing a six-month pilot project to limit their hiring in certain targeted economic sectors in Montreal.
Federal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday that employers will no longer be able to count more than 10% of temporary foreign workers in their workforce and that their contracts will now have to be limited to one year for low-wage positions.