Quebec announces their Immigration Plan for 2024 and 2025
Prime Minister François Legault, Immigration, Francisation, and Integration Minister Christine Fréchette, and French Language Minister Jean-Francois Roberge announced the details of the Quebec Immigration Plan for 2024, as well as the final guidelines for the Immigration Plan in Quebec for 2024 and 2025.
The Quebec government intends to adopt “Francisation Quebec” in 2024 and 2025 in order to increase the number of French-speaking immigrants as well as their knowledge of French.
These strategies include choosing candidates who are fluent in French, encouraging younger immigrants to come to Quebec in order to mitigate the consequences of the province’s aging population, and promoting the welcome, integration, and retention of immigrants in all parts of the province.
Annual immigration to Quebec
The Quebec government has also chosen to keep the number of admissions to Quebec at 50,000 per year, which will be added to the ongoing, “continuous” admissions of individuals selected as part of the Quebec Experience Program (PEQ).
People chosen as part of the PEQ will be admitted while their applications for permanent residency (PR) are being processed. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will review the PR applications without regard to the yearly provincial targets.
According to the criteria, the majority of immigration to the province will be from the category of economic immigration. In 2024 and 2025, admissions in this category will remain at 31,950.
Economic immigration will be dominated by skilled workers. The skilled worker objective will rise significantly from 30,650 in 2024 to 31,500 in 2025. The number of business-related immigration admissions will grow from 1,250 in 2024 to 1,450 in 2025.
The family class will continue to receive 10,400 admissions each year.
French language proficiency is required.
The government also affirmed the implementation of regulatory changes that made knowledge of French mandatory for economic programs. The Quebec government proposes to require workers participating in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) to have an oral knowledge of level 4 French.
However, agricultural labourers will be exempt from the French language requirement. Workers who have lived and worked in Quebec for more than three years and want to renew their Quebec Acceptance Certificate (CAQ) are eligible for the exception.
The government has also decided to publish the Immigration Plan for the following two years, rather than four, in order to monitor the situation and assess the impact of the new policies, all while preserving the survival of the French language.
The Immigration Plan also represents the Quebec Government’s goal of leveraging immigration to the province to meet labour market demands and boost economic development, while also acknowledging Quebec’s ability to welcome and integrate newcomers in French.
