Quebec wants more immigrants
The reason is banal: shortage of labour force.
Québec Solidaire, a broad leftist political party in the province of Quebec, has confirmed its interest in increasing the number of immigrants. Party spokesman Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois said several times during the campaign that the immigration target for Quebec should be between 60,000 and 80,000 people a year for the entire province, with the exact number to be set by an expert committee.
Immigration lawyer Guillaume Cliché-Rivard, party candidate in Saint-Henri-Saint-Anne, believes that the goals should be even more ambitious: he did not rule out a higher goal than 80,000 and attributed it to the enormously low unemployment rate, which crossed the country:
"Look at the expert reports. Look at the needs. We have over 200,000 job openings; we need to address the labor shortage."
Québec Solidaire decided to stick to the 80,000-person limit and announced that the immigration model would include establishing reception centers in each region, strengthening the position of French in the workplace and encouraging exposure to Québec culture: immigrants would be reimbursed $200 CAD for tickets.
The party also said it would give priority to immigration in provincial regions.
As a reminder, Quebec is the largest Canadian province by area, with a population of more than 8 million people, which has its own immigration system. The governments of Quebec and Canada have concluded a series of agreements under which the province sets its own criteria for selecting immigrants.
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