The Trudeau government is not giving up on raising the immigration thresholds to 500,000 new arrivals per year from 2025, a figure that it however intends to “stabilize” from 2026, the time to promote “successful integration” while maintaining a “sustainable population growth”.
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The idea behind the new 2023-2026 Immigration Levels Plan is “to attract the skills and talents we need to fill labor shortages and ensure Canada’s economic prosperity, helping families to come together and remain leaders in the relocation of refugees,” said Immigration Minister Marc Miller Wednesday afternoon.
A question of housing
Despite concerns about the housing crisis plaguing the country, the minister wanted to ensure that a new “whole-of-government” approach will take into account immigration “which puts pressure on housing.”
“I don’t think you’re going to find anyone who will tell you that five thousand more, ten thousand more, that would have made the difference,” he said in defense of maintaining the targets, adding that there is “no linear equation” between the number of immigrants and the supply of housing.
Ottawa also intends to keep a “more intense” eye on the portion of immigration linked to temporary residents, the figure of which was vastly underestimated last year.
Quebec not consulted
The Minister of Immigration of Quebec, Christine Fréchette, affirmed that “the situation which prevails in Quebec was not taken into consideration”.
“I would tell you that on the administrative level, there were exchanges which could be compared to a consultation, but on the political level, there was no consultation. And normally, the federal government must take into account Quebec’s immigration targets before moving forward on its own targets,” she indicated at a press briefing.
“We are talking about it [d’immigration] from a political level,” said Mr. Miller. “Do I say 500,000 to everyone across the province? No, because that would violate the privilege of Parliament,” he added.
François Legault presented Quebec’s immigration plan earlier in the day, in which he announced that he wanted to maintain the threshold at 50,000 new permanent residents per year, including some 6,500 students under the Quebec Experience Program (PEQ). .
Stronger French-speaking immigration
After having “painfully” reached its target of 4.4% French-speaking immigration outside of Quebec last year, Ottawa plans to almost double this rate, to 8%, by 2026, indicated Mr. Miller. .
“At 8%, we are roughly in stability, but certainly not in growth,” lamented the president of the Federation of Francophone and Acadian Communities (FCFA), Liane Roy.
The organization suggests that 12% of French-speaking immigrants would be needed “to put the Francophonie back on the path to growth.”
– With Geneviève Lajoie, Le Journal de Québec