Legault government puts brakes on permanent immigration
After raising the thresholds for permanent immigration, François Legault's government says it now wants to limit the number of immigrants to Quebec by 2025.
It says it is going to freeze two programs that can be used to obtain permanent residence: the Regular Skilled Worker Programme and the Quebec Experience Programme (PEQ) for graduates.
The opposition says it sees this as a “180-degree turn,” indicating a loss of control and improvisation on the part of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ).
The government's decision, confirmed on Thursday, comes just days after the Parti Québécois (PQ) presented a detailed 90-page plan to reduce immigration, but Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge denies reacting to his opponents' proposals.
“It's in the ‘top three’ of ridiculous things I've heard in my life,” he replied in a news scrum on Thursday morning. “We've been working on this for weeks, we've had discussions in council.”
“I'm sorry, but when you have rigorous planning, you publish figures, you set targets and in the meantime, you don't need to do a 180 degree turn,” said PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon. “You're not in the situation where you go from nothing to everything, 48 hours after the plan of an opposition party that has looked into it, that's not normal.”
Parti Quebecois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon holds a graphic as he speaks at a news conference to unveil their plan on immigration, Monday, October 28, 2024 at the legislature in Quebec City. (Jacques Boissinot / The Canadian Press)
Roberge also indicated that his government would take temporary immigration into account in addition to permanent immigration in its next multi-year plan.
This summer, Quebec announced a six-month suspension of the temporary foreign worker program for low-wage jobs in Montreal.
A few weeks ago, the minister tabled a bill to reduce the number of foreign students but did not set a target.
The Parti Québécois said on Monday that it wanted to impose a moratorium on permanent economic immigration from outside Quebec.
Last week, Ottawa announced a 20 per cent cut in permanent immigration.
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 31, 2024.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Charges laid after six-year-old boy fatally struck by school bus north of Toronto: police
A woman has been charged with dangerous driving causing death after a six-year-old boy was struck and killed by a school bus in Vaughan back in June, York Regional Police say.
Ford vehicles recalled in Canada over issues with brakes, steering
Several Ford vehicles have been recalled in Canada due to issues with braking systems, steering and child car seat tethers.
Over 400 alleged victims of ex-Harrods boss Al Fayed come forward
More than 400 alleged victims have so far contacted the legal team working on a case against the late Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed, who has been accused of sexual abuse and rape, lawyer Dean Armstrong said on Thursday.
With condos not selling, Canada faces worsening home ownership crisis
Canada's home ownership crisis is likely to worsen over the next few years as proposed project sales languish at historically low levels, stalling the funding needed for construction, half a dozen economists and realtors told Reuters.
'Fundamental' political shift required to overcome $40 billion NATO spending gap: analyst
Canada will need a profound shift in political priorities if the country is to ramp up spending to meet its international security obligations.
Teenage boy dead after exchange of gunfire with 4 officers in Aurora, Ont.: SIU
A 17-year-old is dead after he was involved in an exchange of gunfire with four police officers who were responding to a break-and-enter in progress in Aurora on Wednesday night, the province’s police watchdog says.
Dozens of North Korean defectors caught by secret police 'vanish', says rights group
More than 100 North Koreans have gone missing after being caught by secret police while trying to defect from the isolated country or even for trying to call relatives in South Korea, a Seoul-based human rights group said on Thursday.
Bones from the Mary Rose shipwreck reveal what life was like aboard a Tudor warship
Bones recovered from the 1545 Mary Rose shipwreck reveal new insights about life for the crew in Tudor England as well as shed light on how work changes our bones.
Truck driver arrested after crashing into TTC bus, six people hospitalized
Six people were taken to hospital after a pickup truck collided with a TTC bus in North York overnight.