Quebec moves forward with controversial plan to reduce immigration

Dec 5 2018, 11:44 pm

The Quebec government is moving forward with its plan to cut the number of immigrants in the province by more than 20%, starting next year.

The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government tabled the legislation on Tuesday, confirming it will go ahead with their campaign promise to reduce the number of immigrants by close to 10,000 from 2018 to 2019.

Brought forward by Immigration Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette, the CAQ’s target objective is to admit between 38,000 and 42,000 immigrants in 2019. That includes between 21,700 and 24,300 economic immigrants, 8,900 to 9,400 family reunification immigrants and 6,800 to 7,500 refugees.

Simon Jolin-Barrette said the CAQ wants to ensure that those who are coming into Quebec will be better integrated into the workforce, but has yet to offer details about how the government will help the immigrants find jobs.

Quebec’s government said they will also put forward the proposal of a French language and values test, which was proposed during their campaign.

The CAQ’s plan would require approval from the federal government in order to be implemented.

While the province does not directly control the number of immigrants or refugees accepted into the country’s family reunification program, Quebec does control how many economic immigrants it admits every year.

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