Quebec sets admissions target of 52,500 immigrants for 2022
Majority of newcomers to arrive through economic immigration programs, including Quebec Skilled Worker Program.
Quebec could admit up to 52,500 new permanent residents in 2022, the province said in its new immigration plan released October 28.
The majority of new admissions to Quebec in 2022 will come through the province’s
economic immigration programs, including the
Quebec Skilled Worker Program (QSWP) and the
Québec experience program (PEQ).
The plan stays the course on the targets established during the public consultation held in the summer of 2019 as part of Quebec Immigration Planning for the 2020-2022 period.
It calls for the admission of 49,500 to 52,500 immigrants in 2022, all categories combined with in addition 18,000 admissions to reach the admission levels that were not reached by the federal government in 2020 due to Covid-19.
The
immigration levels plan is presented each year by the Quebec Immigration Department. It indicates the number of new permanent residents the province intends to admit in the coming year, as well as the categories in which it will admit them.
Following a 1991 immigration agreement signed with Canada, Quebec became responsible for setting its own admission targets. Quebec is the only province in Canada with such an arrangement with Canada’s federal government.
The new figures announced today mark an increase in Quebec’s immigration targets compared to the past two years.
This increase is in line with the promise made by the province’s current governing party, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), to gradually increase the number of newcomers after
reducing admission targets back in 2019. A 20 per cent decrease was introduced that year by the CAQ to improve the selection and francization of newcomers to Quebec.
When the CAQ lowered admission targets, it did so on the basis that Quebec already has difficulty with the integration and francization of its newcomers. Since then, the Quebec government focused on the integration and francization of new permanent residents and has made
significant investments in this area. Over the coming years, Quebec will likely continue to cautiously increase its immigration targets to ensure it is able to meet its integration goals.
In addition to increasing immigration targets, other
important new measures have recently been taken by the Quebec government to facilitate the arrival of foreign workers in the province. These include increasing the limit on the percentage of temporary foreign workers that businesses in certain sectors of the economy can hire from 10 to 20 per cent of their workforce.
