Canada and Quebec have a long history of collaboration to advance shared and respective immigration priorities.
Both governments know how much immigration has been key to meeting labour market needs in critical sectors like agriculture and healthcare during the pandemic, and will be important for economic recovery and future growth.
I was pleased to work with my Quebec counterpart to offer a new pathway to asylum seekers working in the healthcare sector in Quebec and across Canada in recognition of their extraordinary efforts during the pandemic.
Responsive – Greater control over temporary foreign workers
Under the Canada-Quebec Accord, Quebec is responsible for selecting economic permanent immigrants to the province, while both the federal and Quebec governments jointly provide the labour market test required for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. My department manages the International Mobility Program, the labour market test exempt pathway.
The Government of Canada will continue to discuss ways to ensure the admission of temporary foreign workers to Canada supports our labour market needs in cases where Canadians are not available to do the job in question or otherwise when there is a significant benefit to Canada.
I would defer any questions specific to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to my colleague, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion.
Supporting facts and figures
Temporary foreign worker programming roles and responsibilities
The Temporary Foreign Worker Program helps employers fill labour shortages on a temporary basis when no qualified Canadian citizens or permanent residents are available.
The provision of labour market tests for temporary foreign workers destined for Quebec is a shared responsibility between the federal government (Employment and Social Development Canada) and the government of Quebec.
Unless exempted from the requirement under the International Mobility Program, employers seeking to hire foreign workers in Quebec must obtain a Certificat d’acceptation du Québec (CAQ) from the province in addition to a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) jointly processed by the federal and provincial governments.
The International Mobility Program lets employers hire temporary workers without a labour market impact assessment. Exemptions from the requirement for a labour market impact assessment are based on broader economic, cultural or other competitive advantages for Canada and reciprocal benefits enjoyed by Canadians and permanent residents. This program is administered by IRCC.
Since 2018, Quebec has been asking for full authority over Employment and Social Development Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker program, which would, in their view, help increase its responsiveness to Quebec’s regional labour market needs, address employer’s concerns with regards to costs and efficiency of the program, and limit duplication of efforts.
Quebec’s 2021 Levels Plan
On October 29, 2020, Quebec tabled its 2021 immigration levels plan, which increases admissions to up to 47,500 in 2021 (from a range of 43,000 – 44,500 admissions in 2020). Increases are in the economic category only, with no growth in the family class and refugee category.
The pandemic has had a significant impact on the delivery of Quebec’s immigration plan for 2020, similar to the federal plan. Quebec’s 2020 shortfall will be carried over to 2021 and 2022 admissions. As such, Quebec has also planned an additional 7,000 admissions in carry-over from 2020, which brings there overall range to 51,500 – 54,500.
Quebec 2021 immigration levels plan admission ranges in the main immigration categories are as follows:
Economic: 27,500 – 29,300 (+4,600 in carry-over from 2020, for a maximum range of 33,900)
Family Class: 9,700 – 10,200 (+1,550 in carry-over from 2020, for a maximum range of 11 750)
Refugees: 6,900 – 7,500 (+850 in carry-over from 2020, for a maximum range of 8,350)
By 2022, 65 % of Quebec’s overall immigration levels are projected to be economic immigration.
Processing times
As requested by Quebec, in the context of the pandemic, the Department is prioritizing processing of specific occupations, and economic immigrants already in Canada, selected by Quebec in its Programme de l’expérience québécoise.
Efforts are being made by the Department to reduce processing times for Quebec-destined applicants by scanning all paper applications to facilitate electronic processing.
Processing times for the key immigration categories for the 12-month rolling period of February 2020 to January 2021 were:
Quebec has been a key partner in managing the flow of asylum seekers, providing temporary housing, social services and education.
From 2017 to 2019 inclusively, more than 85,000 asylum seekers made a claim in Quebec (50,000 between ports of entry, and 35,000 at official land and air ports of entry).
In 2019, the federal government provided $250M in compensation to Quebec for costs incurred by the province to provide housing and related services to asylum claimants in 2017 and 2018. Discussions for 2019 costs are ongoing and an agreement should be reached shortly. Impacts of asylum claimants for 2020 is also currently being assessed in parallel.
Guardian angels
On May 25, 2020, Quebec Premier Legault announced that he would consider allowing asylum claimants working in Quebec’s long term care centres to regularize their status.
After months of IRCC and Quebec working together, on December 14, 2020, IRCC implemented a special measure to provide a pathway to permanent residence for asylum claimants across the country working in the healthcare sector in recognition of their exceptional contribution to Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Individuals can apply under this special measure between December 14, 2020, and August 31, 2021.
Individuals must meet specific criteria to qualify, including having provided direct patient care in a designated occupation, such as orderlies, nurses’ aides, nurses, assistant orderlies and certain home support workers, over a specified time period. They must also pass medical, security, criminality screening.
For those intending to reside in Quebec, Quebec selects applicants in accordance with the Canada-Quebec Accord and applicable provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Regulations.
Settlement services
The Quebec government is responsible for the administration, design and delivery of settlement and integration services including pre-arrival, information and orientation, French language training, refugee resettlement services, labour market orientation, foreign credential recognition and support services.
The federal government provides an annual grant to Quebec to support settlement and integration services, which was $592M in 2019-20.
Quebec and IRCC collaborate on a biannual comparative study of settlement and integration services in Quebec and the federally funded services in the rest of the Canada.
In addition to the federal grant, Quebec invests funding to support provincial settlement and integration priorities. In 2019, Quebec invested $730M over five years to expand its settlement services.
Background
Canada-Quebec Accord: Roles and Responsibilities
The Canada-Quebec Accord came into force in April 1991. The objectives of the Accord are to preserve Quebec’s demographic weight within Canada and support the integration of immigrants, while respecting its distinct identity. To this end, Quebec can receive a percentage of all immigrants coming to Canada equal to the percentage of its demographic weight in Canada (currently 23 %). Quebec has never taken advantage of this potential and, for 2021, its levels plan would have it receive 12 % of all planned arrivals into Canada.
Quebec selects economic immigrants and resettled refugees destined to that province and the federal government administers other permanent resident programs (family class, protected persons). Both governments jointly administer the International Student and Temporary Foreign Worker programs.
The federal government remains responsible for determining the admissibility (for health, security, and criminality) of all newcomers to Quebec and for issuing their visas.
While the federal government is responsible for establishing annually the total number of immigrants for the country as a whole, it takes Quebec’s advice into consideration on the number of immigrants that it wishes to receive in all classes.
The Accord can only be modified with the agreement of the Government of Quebec.
The federal grant to Quebec
Quebec is the only province that receives an annual grant to support the delivery of settlement and resettlement services to newcomers in the province. Unlike annual funding allocations in other provinces and territories, the federal grant that is transferred to Quebec each year under the Canada-Quebec Accord is not directly linked to the provincial permanent resident intake.
Instead, the amount of Quebec’s grant is calculated based on two factors:
net federal expenditures (total federal expenditures less debt service), compared to the previous fiscal year; and
the number of non-francophone immigrants admitted to Quebec compared to the previous calendar year.
Pursuant to the Accord, the grant cannot diminish from one year to the next. It can only increase or remain constant. The amount provided in any given year becomes the baseline for the calculation the following year.
