The Quebec Immigration Plan for 2023, released on December 8th, indicates that the Province can accept up to 52,500 permanent residents by 2023. This number is similar to the 2022 immigration plan…
The majority of new applicants into Quebec by 2023 are expected to be via Quebec’s economically-based immigration programmes, such as the Quebec Skilled Worker Program (QSWP) and the Quebec Experience Program (PEQ).
The new plan is proper to the goals set during the public consultations held in the summer of 2019 as an element of Quebec Immigration Planning for the 2020-2022 timeframe.
With a target of 33,900, the economy category accounts for the highest percentage of newcomers, with over 65 per cent of the planned admissions. In this area, the Province anticipates receiving 29500 highly skilled employees and as high as 4,300 business immigrants. This includes investors, entrepreneurs as well as those who are employed.
The remaining 18,100 permanent residents are scheduled to be admitted through family reunions or refugees, as well as other programs for immigration.
Quebec’s immigration policy is announced every calendar year to the provincial Immigration Department. It details the number of permanent residents the Province is planning to accept during the coming year, along with the categories to that they will be admitted. So far, the plans have been made public with targets only for the following year. However, in 2023, a consultation will be held in that the Province will develop an overall plan for the next five years beginning in 2024.
The 2023 plan is similar to the plan for 2022 as earlier this year, it was announced that the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) had won a second term as the party that governs with a large majority.
The 2022 program, formulated under the direction of the current Premier Francois Legault, was designed to gradually increase the number of immigrants after cutting admission targets in 2019. A reduction of 20 per cent was introduced in the year of the CAQ to enhance the selection and francization of those new to Quebec.
One of the essential elements for CAQ is that the CAQ party is the protection of its French languages spoken in Quebec, and the new strategy concentrates on choosing immigrants who are fluent in French. It is estimated that the Ministry of Immigration, Francization and Integration forecasts that 79% of the economic immigrants by 2023 will speak the French language, in addition to most of those from all types.
Immigration to Quebec was debated in this year’s provincial elections. During the campaign for his election, Legault committed to allowing just 50,000 newcomers to Quebec every year for the duration of his tenure. He claims that this is the most immigrants Quebec can handle as it’s a complex integration of newcomers in Quebec society, specifically those who require learning French.
Quebec’s unique immigration system
Quebec is the sole Province of Canada which has an annual immigration-level plan. It is the only Province with complete control over the admission of economic immigrants to its territory.
Quebec has greater autonomy in its immigration policies due mainly to the creation of its department for immigration in the year 1968. Quebec continued pushing for greater control over immigration until, 20 years later, in 1991, The Quebec-Canada Agreement conferred the responsibility of establishing its own admissions goals on the Province.
However, even as Quebec chooses skilled workers, it wants to admit immigration is an issue that the provincial and federal governments share. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) makes the final determination regarding all admissions regardless of the type of immigrants.
