Trudeau says Quebec has the 'tools' to welcome 112,000 immigrants, more than double its goal

Quebec's immigration minister has responded to comments from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, saying his assertion that the province could welcome up to 112,000 immigrants every year instead of the planned 50,000 is "insensitive" to Quebec's challenge of protecting the French language. 

Trudeau told The Canadian Press Monday afternoon in a year-end interview that Quebec had the resources to host more than double the immigration threshold it has set for itself and that the province already has "all the tools" for those people to be francophones.

Earlier this year, the federal government set a goal of welcoming 500,000 new immigrants by 2025 — 112,000 represents 22.3 per cent of that number, which is the equivalent of Quebec's population within Canada. 

He said immigration is an "important solution" to the labour shortages Quebec and the rest of the country face. 

But provincial Immigration Minister Christine Fréchette shot back in a statement Tuesday that it's up to Quebec, "and only Quebec to determine its immigration threshold." 

She added that, "Quebec has a double challenge that is unique in Canada: to reduce the labour shortage, while curbing the decline of French, which Mr. Trudeau seems to remain insensitive to." 

For more than 30 years, following agreements ratified with the federal government, Quebec has had the power to decide which economic immigrants to get stay — and, ultimately, how many.

Premier François Legault said in a speech at the National Assembly two weeks ago that, to his government, it is important to link immigration with the future of the French language in Quebec. 

He said he wants all economic immigrants moving to Quebec to be francophones by 2026. Recent Statistics Canada census data showed a decline in the share of French-speaking immigrants to the province from 60.5 per cent in 2016 to 54.5 per cent in 2021. In 2006, the share was 54.2 per cent.

Immigration tensions between feds and province

The premier came under fire in late September, days ahead of being re-elected, for saying that welcoming more than 50,000 immigrants per year would be "a bit suicidal," alluding to the need to protect French. 

The comments came shortly after former Quebec immigration minister Jean Boulet said "80 per cent of immigrants go to Montreal, don't work, don't speak French or don't adhere to the values of Quebec society."

Legault said Boulet could no longer have the immigration file following the remarks and replaced him with Fréchette when he chose his cabinet after the provincial election.

All provincial parties in Quebec appear to agree the province shouldn't welcome more than 100,000 new immigrants in a year, citing integration capacity.

The concept has oft been referred to by politicians as the argument for Quebec's low immigration threshold; though it's seldom been defined, officials have pointed to shortages in housing stock and education resources as examples of what's needed to integrate newcomers into Quebec society and for them to learn French.

The comments from Trudeau and Fréchette are the latest in tensions between the federal government and Quebec under Legault, who often reiterates the province's need for independence from federal interference. 

The two leaders met at the Francophonie Summit in Tunisia in mid-November, where Legault said they spoke about the decline of French in Quebec.

In the interview with CP, Trudeau said increasing the number of immigrants to the province would help prevent it from losing economic weight in Canada. 

"It's a reflection the government of Quebec can and should make," he said. 

The portion of Quebec's population within Canada has declined by 5.5 per cent in 50 years, going from 27.8 per cent in 1972 to 22.3 per cent in 2022. 

Ontario's, on the other hand, rose three per cent in that time — from 35.8 per cent to 38.8 per cent. According to the Ontario government's website, Ontario received 66,691 immigrants in the fourth quarter of 2021, representing 48.3 per cent of all immigrants to Canada in that period.