If Quebec Premier François Legault wants to take immigration powers away from the federal government, he should tell Ottawa about delays related to permanent residency applications, which are much longer than other Canadian provinces, says Mia Homsy, president of the Institut du Québec (IDQ).
The patience of people applying for permanent residency in Quebec has been sorely tested compared to other provinces, according to a study by the IDQ that was released on Wednesday.
Administrative delays can take up to 37 months in Quebec -- that is, just over three years.
In other provinces, the waiting time varies between six and 28 months.
"I think it's good to ask for more power in immigration because the federal government hasn't been able to address the issue of delays in a meaningful way," she said. "We think, in these discussions, the focus should be on economic immigration. I don't see a problem with making a broader request."
Quebec is responsible for the selection of economic immigrants on its territory.
Canada, on the other hand, is responsible for criminal, security and health checks.
The IDQ concludes that wait times are "mostly" attributable to the federal administration; "a slowness that puts Quebec at a considerable disadvantage," the document states.
However, it remains unclear why joint processes take longer in Quebec than in other Canadian provinces, Homsy said.
"The reality is that it's extremely opaque on the federal side," she said, noting the fact that immigration thresholds are lower in Quebec may partly be the cause of the backlog.
The fact that Quebec selects its own economic immigrants adds a provincial administrative process of about six months that does not exist in other provinces, Homsy adds.
That said, federal work also takes longer than in other provinces.
In April, as part of a lawsuit by the Association québécoise des avocats et avocates en droit de l'immigration (AQAADI), Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said the majority of forms in Quebec were filed in paper format rather than electronically, which increased delays.
The IDQ recommends that Quebec take over the verification process, at least for economic immigration.
"It would still be interesting. It would allow us to compare the federal versus Quebec processing time," Homsy said. "Then we could better understand what is due to administrative delays and what is due to the fact that the thresholds are lower in Quebec."
Yet, it seems Quebec Premier François Legault has a broader agenda.
With four months to go until the provincial election, he has gone so far as to compare Quebec to the U.S. state of Louisiana when it comes to the gradual disappearance of the French language if the status quo is maintained.
He argues taking control of the family reunification process is a matter of survival.
The request was rejected Tuesday by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said a country like Canada "must continue to have a say in its immigration."
While she has "nothing against" Legault's demands, Homsy points out that the Quebec government would have "limited" room to maneuver even if it obtains immigration powers for family reunification, which affects people already in Quebec, and refugees, which is governed by international agreements.
"Economic immigration represents 65 per cent in total, and that's where we have a case for Quebec's competitiveness," she said.
The study also points out the province's economic situation has improved significantly in recent years.
The unemployment rate for immigrants aged 25 to 54 was 5.3 per cent in April in Quebec, compared to 12.7 per cent ten years ago.
Over the same period, the employment rate has risen from 69.9 per cent to 81.9 per cent.
The gap between the entry wage of economic immigrants and Quebec workers has also narrowed.
It was 40 per cent lower than the Quebec average in 2010 and is now at 1.3 per cent.
The status of immigrants has also changed over the past year.
There are 61,668 temporary-status immigrants in Quebec, which represents 64 per cent in 2019, up from nine per cent in 2012.
For many, temporary immigration is a gateway before applying for permanent resident status.
Quebec should take advantage of this to facilitate the arrival of temporary immigrants in the regions, which would increase the chances that they will settle there for good, the IDQ recommends.
"We see that permanent immigrants who first had temporary status integrate much better into the labour market," said Homsy. "They master French; they have better jobs, better incomes. We believe that we must rely on this to increase the thresholds in the regions."
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 1, 2022.
