(Quebec) Contrary to François Legault, who considers that the “reception capacity” of Quebec in terms of immigration is limited to 50,000 newcomers per year, the Minister of Immigration, Jean Boulet, would find “reasonable” to increase this threshold to accommodate up to 58,000.
Posted at 1:08 p.m.
This is a major turnaround for the government of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ). During the study of the credits of the Department of the Executive Council, at the beginning of May, the Prime Minister ridiculed the claim of the leader of the official opposition, Dominique Anglade, who affirmed that the province should accommodate up to 70,000 immigrants in response to the labor shortage problem.
“No more than 50,000 per year, then it will stay like that in the next few years if there is a CAQ government,” promised Mr. Legault solemnly.
However, the government has since commissioned a report from two experts, economist Pierre Fortin and demographer Marc Termote, on the situation of French in Quebec, economic issues and population growth related to immigration. Their conclusions will be presented this weekend at the CAQ’s national convention in Drummondville.
The Journal of Quebec reported Thursday that experts recommended that Quebec repatriate temporary immigration powers and increase the annual threshold of immigrants to 58,000. since rebounded to 50,000 this year.
“Taking into account the birth rate, taking into account the problems of demographic growth, the minorization of French in Quebec, this is a proposal that seems interesting to me and which must be considered. If you’re asking me for a personal opinion, yes, it’s a [idée] which seems reasonable and reasoned to me,” Minister Boulet pleaded on Thursday.
The Minister of Immigration then recalled that a multi-annual review of the immigration thresholds will be carried out after the election on 3 October next. Will the CAQ go into the campaign by putting forward the figure of 58,000 immigrants, or will it follow the Prime Minister’s promise of a few weeks ago, namely that the threshold would be maintained at 50 000 for the next term?
The report of the two experts will guide the caquistes to feed their reflections, replied Mr. Boulet.
“What concerns me is that we ensure the vitality of the French language, that we maintain its vigor in Quebec and that we respond effectively to the economic challenge arising from the labor shortage. work,” he added.