Ottawa lowers permanent immigration thresholds, Quebec wants even less

Photo: Sean Kilpatrick The Canadian Press In making the announcement about new permanent residents, Justin Trudeau admitted that his government “didn’t get the balance right” on temporary immigration either.

Sarah R. Champagne and Boris Proulx

Published at 11:09 Updated at 13:40

• Canada

Following nearly a decade of rising immigration, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a major change of direction on Thursday, lowering his target for immigration by about 20%. To the Quebec government, which is asking him to go further, he reiterated his demand for a real plan.

Starting next year, fewer new permanent residents will be accepted into the country. Their number will drop from 485,000 in 2024 to 395,000 in 2025. These thresholds will then increase to 380,000 in 2026, then to 365,000 in 2027. After three years, this means that 120,000 fewer people per year will be accepted compared to the previous plan.

Given that immigration is the driving force behind population growth in the country, this announcement will result in a slight decrease in Canada’s population, by 0.2% per year for the next two years.

Politically, this is a major turning point in the recent history of the Liberal Party of Canada, whose pro-immigration bias is one of its trademarks. When Prime Minister Trudeau came to power in 2015, this immigration target was set at 272,000 people. Last year, the federal government decided instead to maintain the number of new permanent residents at around 500,000.

“It’s time to make adjustments to stabilize our immigration system,” said Mr. Trudeau, accompanied by Immigration Minister Marc Miller. He admitted briefly that his government “had not found the right balance” in temporary immigration either. Ottawa is also tightening the entry of foreign students and temporary workers.

The new approach, described as “pragmatic,” was announced the day after a Liberal caucus where dissatisfied MPs were heard and while the wind of public opinion has changed in recent months, notably because of the housing crisis and inflation.

Discord over temporary immigration

The news of the lowering of immigration thresholds, announced by the Trudeau government on Wednesday evening, quickly prompted a reaction from Quebec Premier François Legault. He was quick to ask the federal government to lower the number of new arrivals even further.

Mr. Trudeau immediately threw the ball back at him, stating that the province “selects the majority of its temporary immigration,” something François Legault had refuted last August. “Mr. Legault must assume his responsibilities regarding temporary immigration,” the Canadian Prime Minister repeated. He said he had been asking Quebec for a plan for “months” and had not yet received one.

Quebec Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge was quick to respond: “I think he is wrong, we were the first to act in August, on the refusal to process [work permits] on the Island of Montreal for low-wage workers.”

Quebec had in fact anticipated the federal announcement by a week, but with a more limited scope: Ottawa is targeting all cities with an unemployment rate higher than 6% and has lowered the cap on temporary workers per company, which Quebec has not touched. As for foreign students, the federal caps have been announced since last January, while the Legault government has just tabled a bill without a quantified target.

Mr. Roberge calls on the federal government to also act on the International Mobility Program and on the distribution of asylum seekers.

As for the permanent resident targets, “the reduction is a step in the right direction, but it’s not enough,” he said. “It’s not a big drop,” Premier François Legault had already declared to the National Assembly in the minutes before his federal counterpart’s press conference.

Quebec sets its own thresholds in this area, and the CAQ government intends to maintain its target, which is to welcome between 50,000 and 60,000 people per year. The rest of Canada therefore takes more permanent immigrants than Quebec in proportion to its population, which reduces the province’s relative weight, Mr. Roberge pointed out.

Oppositions rage

The leader of the official opposition in Ottawa was quick to slam Justin Trudeau’s “broken” immigration system, calling the recent record “radical and incompetent policy.” In a speech to reporters in Toronto on Thursday, he promised, among other things, to block “bogus refugees” by strengthening border protection.

The Conservative leader, who won his party’s leadership race by running as “pro-immigration,” has never specified what immigration target he would like to see. Instead, he wants to implement a formula that would establish that number based on certain criteria, such as the number of housing units built.

Bloc Québécois MP Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe greeted Thursday’s announcement with a smile, even though he believes the thresholds could be lowered further. “It’s clear that there’s a fairly major change in tone on the part of the federal government. I think we’ll take credit for that,” said the Lac-Saint-Jean MP, referring to the many times his party has hounded the government on this subject in the Ottawa parliament. “The only party that questioned the federal government’s thresholds was the Bloc Québécois!” »

For his part, New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh suggested that the “minor 20% adjustment” to immigration thresholds would not solve the housing shortage or problems accessing health care.

In Quebec City, the Parti Québécois criticized Premier Legault for having stopped demanding control over all immigration. Québec solidaire believes that Ottawa’s announcement is too little too late.

“Controlled and well-managed” immigration

Thursday’s announcement also forced Justin Trudeau to justify his immigration policy of recent years. It was motivated, he argued, by the significant need for workers coming out of the pandemic. “We acted quickly,” Miller also explained, before adding that the message to send now is one of “controlled and well-managed immigration.”

“We are well aware of the pressures that [general immigration] has put on the provinces and on civil society,” he added.

Both men sought to present this reduction as a “responsible” decision that a “flexible” immigration system allows. Mr. Trudeau denied that it is an admission of failure, “on the contrary”: “Our immigration system is robust and rigorous, but also flexible. Many times in the past it has been adjusted to the realities on the ground,” he insisted.

Canadians must continue to have confidence in this system, Mr. Miller continued, while an opinion poll revealed last week that a majority of Canadians believe there are too many immigrants in the country.

For further information

• Video | Your questions on temporary immigration answered
• A majority of Canadians believe there are too many immigrants in the country

The reduction in the number of temporary residents has also been in the works for months, with tightening after tightening. Since last March, Minister Miller has said he wants to reduce the proportion of temporary residents in the Canadian population from more than 6% to 5%.

The latest tightening of the screws for workers, including a lower ceiling per company, an increase in the minimum wage in one category and hiring freezes in certain cities, should reduce the number of temporary immigrants by 30,000. The number of study permits has also been reduced by 35%, but the limit allocated for Quebec has not yet been reached.

With Dave Noël in Quebec City