Federal Ministers Call Quebec Premier To Task Over Canada Immigration Claims

Two of Canada’s federal ministers say they are both surprised at Quebec’s dissatisfaction with provincial immigration and eager to set the record straight.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller and Public Security Minister Dominic LeBlanc together sent the letter to Quebec’s new immigration minister, Jean-François Roberge, on Sept. 24.

In it, they claim to be surprised Quebec Premier François Legault feels the federal government’s efforts over the past six months have been insufficient.

Quebec Premier Tried To Get A Federal Party To Take Down The Government

The unusual move by the federal immigration minister and the public security minister comes in the wake of Legault’s attempt to bring down the federal government and make a reduction in temporary immigration a central issue in the next federal election.

Earlier this month, the Quebec premier tried, unsuccessfully, to enlist the aid of a federal political party committed to Quebec nationalism, the Bloc Québécois, to bring down Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government.

That would have forced an early election which Legault was hoping to use to pressure Ottawa into lowering temporary immigration to the country.

The Quebec premier vowed to support a federal political party only if it pledges to lower temporary immigration to Canada.

“Each political party will have commitments to make and the commitment that the federal parties will make to reducing the number of temporary immigrants in the short term will be very important in determining whether or not I support a political party,” the Quebec premier reportedly told reporters on Sept. 20.

In the letter to Roberge, a copy of which was reportedly obtained by The Canadian Press news agency, Miller and LeBlanc claimed they wanted to “set the record straight.”

The two federal ministers also suggested Quebec share with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) the data it needs to identify asylum seekers ready to settle outside Quebec.

“We believe that this initiative would have a better chance of success if Quebec joined forces with us to encourage conservative provincial governments to participate, rather than encouraging a motion of censure by (Conservative Leader) Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives,” the letter reportedly states.

A francophone province, Quebec has maintained it cannot properly welcome and integrate all immigrants with the current record-high rate of immigration in Canada.

Legault has repeatedly called for the number of temporary immigrants in Quebec to be cut in half.

“Over the past two years, the number of temporary immigrants in Quebec has doubled from 300,000 to 600,000,” wrote Legault on Facebook.

Quebec Blames IRCC For Explosion In Temporary Immigration

“The federal government is largely responsible for this explosion in the number of temporary immigrants. It has been asked to reduce by half the number of those under its responsibility. We must reduce the number of immigrants to protect our public services, to take pressure off housing and to protect the French language, particularly in Montreal.”

Quebec’s new immigration minister and French-language czar, Jean-François Roberge, says the province is facing major challenges on the immigration front.

“This combination of functions (I have) will increase the effectiveness of the government’s actions, which is essential in the particular context where the number of temporary immigrants is exploding and where the challenges of welcoming and integrating, as well as protecting French, are more present than ever,” said Roberge.

In their letter to him, the two federal ministers highlighted changes Ottawa has made to address Quebec’s concerns, including its signing of an extra protocol for the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States.

That initiative came into force in March last year and has cut the number of illegal immigrant crossings at the Canadian border, a major irritant for Quebec.

In February this year, Ottawa also introduced a partial visa requirement for Mexican citizens, who represented about 17 per cent of all asylum claims in 2023, noted the ministers in their letter.

Since then, the number of claims filed by Mexicans has dropped by more than 75 per cent.

In June, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Legault, resulting in extra immigration measures to help asylum seekers land jobs

“For example, Employment and Social Development Canada has added a function to the Job Bank to match asylum seekers with job opportunities across the country, and this function is already starting to be used,” the letter reportedly states.

“Immigration is a shared jurisdiction, and the government of Canada is seeking collaboration and concrete actions from the government of Quebec so that certain commitments communicated last June can produce more results.”

In November last year, Legault  stated his government’s immigration target in 2024 would be about 50,000 newcomers, about the same as this year, in an attempt to prevent the erosion of the French language and Quebecois culture.

 “We chose … to keep the thresholds, so the total number of permanent immigrants accepted per year at 50,000,” Legault reportedly said in November.

Francophone Province Trying To Hold The Line On Immigration

“We had evaluated the possibility of increasing it to 60,000, but it’s important for us, to stop, to reverse the decline of French.”

The dramatic rise in the number of temporary residents to the province, though, has underscored the need of employers in Quebec to find solutions to the labour shortages they face and the desire of universities and colleges there to tap into the lucrative international student market.

Often, those temporary workers and international students then seek to immigrate to Canada through either the federal Express Entry system’s Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program, Federal Skilled Trades (FST) program and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) or the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) of the provinces.