Quebec suspends 2 major immigration programs to ‘better regulate’ newcomers

The Quebec government is tightening controls on immigration by suspending two major programs that are pathways to citizenship.

Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge announced the moratorium on social media late Wednesday, saying the province wants to “better regulate” the arrival of newcomers to Quebec.

The government under Premier François Legault is temporarily freezing two key programs that lead to a Quebec Selection Certificate, which allows immigrants to eventually apply for permanent Canadian residency.

Under the plan, Quebec will no longer accept new applications for the Regular Skilled Workers Program. It also put the Quebec Experience Program, which is for recent graduates, on ice. The freeze on both takes effect Thursday.

“A scenario for reducing permanent immigration will also be seriously studied by the government,” Roberge wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Our objective is clear: we want to equip ourselves with the necessary means to better regulate immigration in Quebec.”

The freeze for both programs will be in place until June 30 2025, as the province prepares a multi-year immigration plan. The province says the measure will also have an impact on “the volume of admissions” for 2026.

“We’re taking action for 2025 but we are also making sure we have all the room for the maneuver for planning,” Roberge told reporters at the National Assembly on Thursday.

It is the latest step by the government to cap the number of newcomers coming to the province. Earlier this month, it introduced legislation to give itself new powers to limit the number of international students.

The bill was part of a larger push to lower the number of non-permanent residents in Quebec, which has increased to 600,000 from 300,000 in the last two years.

The Legault government has also clamped down on admitting temporary foreign workers for low-wage jobs in Montreal. The six-month suspension took effect in September.

Quebec plan ‘still incomplete,’ Miller says

Quebec has tussled with Ottawa over immigration in recent months, asking for more power to decide who can settle in the province, and demanding Ottawa forcibly relocate asylum seekers to other parts of the country.

Last week, the Canadian government also announced it would slash immigration targets by reducing the number of new permanent residents by 21 per cent next year. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Immigration Minister Marc Miller said the Liberal government did not get the balance right after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We think they should go further but they did move on that matter,” Roberge said, referring to Ottawa’s latest targets.

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Miller clapped back Thursday, saying that while it’s Quebec’s right to manage those two immigration streams, the province still hasn’t provided a full plan for immigration as demanded by Ottawa for months.

“I welcome the pedagogical exercise they say they will do next year, but it’s still incomplete,” Miller said.

“We’ve been saying for months to Mr. Legault to give us a plan to reduce temporary residents that he’s been clamouring for and we haven’t seen his share of it.”

With the moratorium, Miller said there is a “federal responsibility” to accept French-speaking newcomers in other communities outside of Quebec where population is on the decline.

“I would be prepared to welcome those folks if they feel like they’ve been left behind,” Miller said.

Fears over ‘real repercussions’ for some job sectors

Quebec Manufacturers and Exporters (MEQ) said it was “concerned” about the impacts of the latest moratorium Thursday.

The MEQ claims the province didn’t consult with businesses on suspending use of the two programs, adding it “will have real repercussions on the economy of several regions of Quebec, where the economic fabric is based on the manufacturing sector.”

There are currently 13,000 available jobs in the manufacturing sector and the MEQ is worried the latest cap on immigration will “harm their activities and productivity.”

“In the last few weeks we had the announcement about temporary foreign workers — the cuts there — and now we’re cutting on the pool of skilled workers that can contribute to their businesses,” vice president of public affairs Julie White said in an interview Thursday.

— with files from Global’s Phil Carpenter, Uday Rana and The Canadian Press