Quebec is willing to spend millions to attract immigrants

Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard has unveiled a new provincial budget plan for 2021-2022. It includes a significant increase in immigration spending — the province will spend $246 million CAD.

The funds will help the Quebec Ministry of Immigration, Francization and Integration (MIFI) assess the competences of foreign professionals, encourage immigration of in-demand professionals and retain foreign students. With the funding, the province will also be able to provide support for new immigrants.

"The budget presented by the Quebec government shows that immigration is a priority for the authorities," said Quebec Immigration Minister Nadine Giraud. — Attracting and integrating immigrants benefits businesses because they can employ skilled workers and fill labor shortages."

Of the total, $130 million CAD will be used to recognize the skills of expatriate professionals so they can more quickly integrate into the local labour market and fill the positions they held before coming to Quebec. Skills recognition entails the following:

• identification of areas of employment and professions that are of priority for the labour market;
• expansion of training, professional development, retraining and internship opportunities for temporary foreign workers;
• free retraining for immigrants who have studied abroad.

The government's next initiative is to encourage immigrants to settle outside metropolitan areas, because many newcomers now seek to work in large cities. The $57 million CAD will be used to increase the proportion of immigrants in areas where there is an acute shortage of workers.

There is also funding for the integration of newcomers. $50 million CAD will be spent on educational resources and support for immigrants who study in French language courses. Another $9 million CAD is planned to be spent on attracting and retaining foreign students.

The current Quebec government promised when it was elected to reduce immigration to the province, but has since changed its approach, recognizing the attraction of people from abroad as a solution to problems such as an aging population and labour shortages. In 2021, Quebec aims to welcome between 27,500 and 29,300 new immigrants.