(Quebec) The Legault government is suspending a fourth immigration program to avoid a higher than expected increase in the number of new arrivals next year.
Posted at 9:25 a.m.
This freeze applies to collective sponsorship carried out under the Overseas Refugee Program. This program is aimed at groups of people and organizations who want to sponsor a refugee who is in another country as well as their family members. They become its guarantor, under a contract with the government.
According to a ministerial decree published in the Gazette official On Wednesday, the Minister of Immigration, Jean-François Roberge decided that “the receipt of commitment requests” under this program for the year 2025 should be suspended.
This decision will take effect on 1is January and will be in effect until June 30.
According to the minister’s office, it will ensure that 700 to 800 fewer refugees will be welcomed in Quebec. And it will prevent the target set for 2025 from being exceeded.
In his Immigration Plan for 2025 presented this fall, Minister Roberge reduced this target by half compared to last year. It plans to welcome between 850 to 1,100 refugees through collective sponsorship. It was between 1850 and 2100 in 2024.
The suspension of the program has some exceptions. For example, it “does not apply to the application for commitment presented in favor of a foreign national and, where applicable, members of his family who are awaiting a decision relating to their admission as permanent resident”.
At the end of October, Jean-François Roberge imposed an eight-month moratorium on the Regular Skilled Worker Program (PRTQ) and the Quebec Experience Program for Foreign Graduate Students (PEQ-Diplômés). These two programs are at the origin of the majority of permanent immigration to Quebec.
The minister subsequently suspended recruitment missions abroad for 2025 – the so-called “Quebec Days” aimed at attracting nurses, engineers and teachers among others.
Next year, Quebec will welcome up to 67,000 permanent immigrants, coming close to the 2022 record. This is a threshold that the first François Legault nevertheless described as “suicidal” for the future of French during the last electoral campaign. Without the moratoriums, this number would be even higher.
Minister Roberge argued this fall that permanent immigrants admitted in 2025 should have a knowledge of French in a proportion of 80%, a jump of 10 points compared to the results of 2024 and previous years.
The suspensions also aim to give the minister room to maneuver to present the new multi-year immigration plan, expected by the end of June after consultations. Quebec is preparing a scenario of lowering the immigration threshold.
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