Hoping to immigrate to Quebec? You’ll have to know French, premier says | 24CA News
Months after saying that accepting greater than 50,000 immigrants a 12 months could be “suicidal” for Quebec, the province’s premier is contemplating growing the variety of immigrants who arrive within the province to 60,000 a 12 months.
Premier François Legault stated that shall be doable after an immigration reform that may require the overwhelming majority of people that come by the province’s financial immigration system to talk French earlier than they arrive.
“From the moment we are able to, because there’s real openness on the part of the federal government, say that the increase is only francophones, or people who have mastered French, that completely changes the situation,” he informed reporters Thursday in Quebec City.
Legault stated the potential rise in immigration would come totally from a rise within the variety of folks accepted by the Quebec-controlled financial immigration stream.
Sixty-five per cent of immigrants to Quebec come by the financial stream, which is managed by the province, with the remaining coming by the federally-controlled household reunification and refugee packages.
Legault stated that when he described elevated immigration as suicidal final 12 months, he believed that the federal authorities would require will increase in these two classes if Quebec accepted extra financial immigrants.
“I thought, at the time, that the federal government wouldn’t permit us to increase only the percentage of economic immigrants and, so far, with the discussion we’ve had with the federal government, they are more than open to accept that, so it’s changing the picture completely,” he stated.
If the elevated threshold is adopted, Legault stated immigration ranges would rise progressively to achieve 60,000 folks a 12 months by 2027.
The precise variety of immigrants the province accepts may very well be even larger, he stated, as a result of that determine doesn’t embody individuals who come by a fast-track program for graduates of Quebec universities.
However, that program — which at the moment requires candidates to have a better degree of French than many staff who could be accepted below the province’s new plan and is open to graduates of all Quebec post-secondary establishments — shall be restricted to college students who graduate from packages taught in French, or who attended highschool in French.
Legault stated that as premier of Quebec his main accountability is to guard the province’s French character.
“Since the last 10, 15, 20 years, we see that the percentage of people speaking French is decreasing, so we have to do something,” he stated.
“And I think it’s important that we request that they speak French before being accepted.”
Christine Fréchette, Quebec’s Minister of Immigration, Francization and Integration, stated the reform — which is able to go forward whether or not the province decides to extend its immigration threshold or not — will change the best way Quebec selects immigrants, shifting away from a degree system that rewards, however doesn’t require, data of the French language.
The level system shall be changed by a system the place sure standards, similar to French-language data, should be met.
She stated that below the brand new plan, 96 per cent of people that apply to immigrate to Quebec by the financial stream shall be required to talk French earlier than coming to the province, by 2027.
That would enhance the variety of all immigrants to Quebec who communicate French from 68 per cent in 2022, to 72 per cent by 2027, if the rise is adopted, or 70 per cent by 2027, if the variety of immigrants stays at 50,000 folks a 12 months.
Legault stated he’s not but dedicated to the rise, including that he desires to seek the advice of with consultants earlier than it’s adopted.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
