With increasing media coverage, immigration is at the center of concerns in Canadian and Quebec society. From debates on its social acceptability to its effect on the development and prosperity of Quebec, the discourse has evolved towards concerns about the capacity to welcome and integrate immigrants. Has immigration become a problem? Recently, the challenges linked to housing have crystallized these concerns, which fuel discussions on the reception capacities of immigrants, thresholds and the recruitment of foreign students.
Two main factors explain this change in the tone of the speech.
First of all, the events that occurred at Roxham Road from 2017, notably the closure of this border crossing on March 25, 2023, marked a turning point in the perception of immigration. This decision aimed to change the rhetoric surrounding immigration, considered too negative by governments grappling with the irregular arrival of migrants. The Quebec government considered the passage to Roxham as a burden, an undesirable situation which risked compromising its image and accentuating border tensions, particularly in relation to the capacity to welcome asylum seekers in Quebec, especially in Montreal.
It was necessary to dissociate Quebec from this border issue by highlighting its vision of an immigration society, based on the integrity of its immigration system, the selection of desirable immigrants and the contribution of immigrants to the economic growth of Province. In the weeks following the closure of Roxham Road, the media reintroduced the concept of the “good migrant”, highlighting skilled workers who could fill the labor shortage and international students who could become permanent residents.
Then, the immigration of temporary workers has become a major issue for the economic development of all regions of Quebec. Despite a government policy aimed at limiting the number of immigrants to 50,000 permanent residents under the mandate of François Legault, Quebec has seen a significant increase in temporary immigration — workers, foreign students and asylum seekers. This increase, illustrated by a 46% increase in the number of temporary migrants in one year, from 2022 to 2023, according to Statistics Canada, responds to a growing demand from the economic sector for recruitment.
This development highlights the importance of rethinking the discourse on immigration. In its speech, the provincial government has always recalled that immigration should not unbalance certain foundations of Quebec’s reality, in particular the preservation of the French language and Quebec’s place in Canada.
Hospitality and way of living in the territory
How else can we talk about immigration? First, by responding to the discourse of fear which causes a regression of identity at a global level, as we can see in relation to borders, but also in our daily lives. We become suspicious. We fear the person who is not like us. We act differently in terms of our identity by excluding the other.
Secondly, it is necessary to present another option inspired by what the French philosopher Étienne Tassin calls “a concrete utopia”, which opens the way to innovative reflection on how to be hospitable to the world. There is current news in reception today which requires new ideas, new concrete actions.
In a very beautiful work, the historian Michèle Riot-Sarcey presents three characteristics of a utopian sensitivity. First, it is important to bring out a radical critique of our time and to reconnect with a writing of hope. It seems to me that this is essential. We must question the dominant discourse on immigration, the reality of immigration, the way the system works, which means articulating critical thinking about the immigration policies of our societies. Then, we must recognize concrete and human experiences and not remain in abstraction, in a managerial approach disconnected from reality. Finally, we must give ourselves the possibility of thinking about a world of migration other than that of the State and national sovereignty.
Unfortunately, it is striking to see how much our governments prefer to adopt a utilitarian narrative of the need for immigrants. For example, we constantly discuss what immigration brings to the development of Quebec society, but not what this emigration causes on the societies of departure.
Emigration was part of an initial need for populations in economic survival, but today, what dominates is a downright predatory logic in the labor recruitment strategy of countries from the North to the regard to the southern basins. What happens to migrant justice when states siphon off nurses and other professions in shortage? The Quebec territory must be more than a reservoir of immigrant labor. Montreal and the regions must not be just a simple reservoir of immigrant labor.