Premier Legault asks Poilievre to commit to cutting temporary immigration in half

After siding last week with Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives, Quebec Premier François Legault is making his position clear: his support will depend on each party's position on immigration.

In a news scrum at the National Assembly on Thursday morning, Legault asked all the federal parties to commit to halving temporary immigration to Quebec.

According to the latest figures from Statistics Canada, 588,000 temporary immigrants are currently residing in Quebec, a number that François Legault believes is far too high and that he says puts too much pressure on public services.

Legault said he expected "all federal parties to make commitments to halve the number of temporary immigrants" before the next federal election campaign, which could be imminent.

Last week, he called on the Bloc Québécois to vote with the Conservatives to bring down the Trudeau government on the grounds that Ottawa is not doing enough on immigration.

He admitted on Thursday that he had never discussed the immigration issue with Pierre Poilievre.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 26, 2024.