In its offensive to preserve French, the Legault government will favor mainly French-speaking immigration, forcing all economic immigrants to master the language. It also plans to raise the thresholds to 60,000 new arrivals per year.
This was announced by Prime Minister François Legault on Thursday during a large-scale press conference with his Minister of Immigration, Christine Fréchette, and his Minister of the French Language, Jean-François Roberge.
For now, Quebec has a welcoming target of 50,000 immigrants per year. Last year, the CAQ leader said that there was “no question” of exceeding it and even said during the election campaign that it “would be a bit suicidal” to increase it.
The government of the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) is now putting two options on the table, which will be studied during public consultations this fall. If he goes ahead with his upward scenario, he will push the thresholds up to about 10,000 newcomers by 2027.
Through a draft regulation, it will also require that all economic immigrants admitted to Quebec speak French. “Obviously, I expect to have the question: ‘Mr. Legault, you said that more than 50,000 would be suicidal”, launched the Prime Minister at a press conference on Thursday. “Well, that would be suicidal for the future of French. But from the moment we are able […] to say that the increase is only for francophones, that completely changes the situation. »
Major reforms
Major reforms to existing permanent immigration programs have been proposed. In addition to easing the criteria for PEQ graduates, the Legault government will require the achievement of a minimum level of French for all skilled workers.
“For the first time in the history of Quebec, candidates for economic immigration [devront avoir] knowledge of French. We will require knowledge of French orally, but in some cases in writing,” said Minister of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI), Christine Fréchette.
Exit the Regular Skilled Worker Program (PRTQ), it will now be replaced by the Skilled Worker Selection Program. Divided into four components, this program, which will no longer use the scoring grid, will widen the range of professions eligible for permanent selection, from highly qualified to less qualified workers, including regulated professions and “talents”. of exception”.
Unprecedentedly, the levels of French required will also be modulated according to the components, which was a request from the business community, recalled Minister Fréchette. For example, a skilled worker, such as a graphic designer, will need to have level 7 in oral French and level 5 in writing. A beneficiary attendant or a truck driver will only have to prove that they have obtained a level 5 orally and in writing.
Because of the scoring grid that was at the heart of the PRTQ selection, immigrants who did not speak French at all could still qualify. This will no longer be the case, assured Minister Fréchette.
Future investors and entrepreneurs wishing to settle in Quebec will also have to prove that they have a level 7 in French and that they have temporarily resided in Quebec for a certain period of time.
As for the Quebec Experience Program (PEQ), it will be further modified and will practically return to its initial version, before Simon Jolin-Barrette carried out a reform in 2019, which had caused an outcry. From now on, graduates will no longer have to have the required work experience nor the obligation to be employed at the time of application. However, they must have studied in a French-language post-secondary institution, with some exceptions.
“We have to focus on the students who come to us,” said Minister Fréchette.
A rising scenario
If Quebec adopts the scenario of an increase in the thresholds, it will not set a ceiling in the reception of graduates who have passed through the PEQ. The actual number of immigrants received each year could therefore increase further. These were 8,000 in 2021, but had drastically dropped to 2,000, four times less, revealed The duty.
The 60,000 option is not without risk, according to the MIFI. In its consultation book made public in the morning, Quebec agrees that it would engage on a tightrope by choosing to move away from the status quo.
“Despite the lack of manpower observed in several areas, an annual increase in immigration levels must not come into conflict with the reception capacity and integration in French in Quebec”, specifies one. in the document tabled Thursday by the minister.
Asked whether he was giving in to pressure from the business community and the opposition parties who wanted to increase the thresholds, Mr. Legault affirmed that there was only one reason allowing him to break with his past remarks: “The federal government is open to what we only increase is economic immigration, which we control. »
However, the Canada-Quebec Accord on immigration already gives him this right. “I am very surprised to hear the Prime Minister tell us that, suddenly, the discussions with the federal government are to the effect that we can increase [l’immigration] economic “, launched the spokesperson for Quebec solidaire in matters of immigration, Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, during a press briefing in Quebec City on Thursday. “We have known for a very long time that we can completely increase our economic threshold without having the permission of the federal government. In addition to deploring the absence of concrete measures for regionalization, the MNA also notes that the Minister is “backtracking” on the Quebec Experience Program. ” [Elle] disavows the Jolin-Barrette reform on the student PEQ,” he said.
Temporary evacuees
The Quebec Liberal Party’s immigration critic, Monsef Derraji, criticized the Legault government for evacuating a whole proportion of immigrants from its analysis: temporary workers. At the end of 2022, there were 300,000. “These people use the same services as permanent workers: housing, public services, child care, [services de] health,” he said.
Parti Québécois MP Pascal Bérubé is worried about the impact of these non-permanent residents on French. “What was the original slogan? “Take less, but take care of it.” Now: “Take a lot more, and we don’t talk about it anymore,” he illustrated.
François Legault justified himself on Thursday by arguing that this is a first step. Earlier this month, Prime Minister François Legault expressed his desire to raise Molière’s language proficiency requirements for both permanent and temporary immigrants. “For now, the Government of Quebec does not require knowledge of French [des immigrants temporaires]. So there is still room for action. It will be in a second stage, ”said the head of government on Thursday.