The Government of Quebec is on target to meet its stated goal of reducing immigration to the province by 20 per cent.
In the 2018 election campaign the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) promised to reduce immigration by 20 per cent (from about 50,000 to 40,000). In a recent analysis of immigration numbers for the first six months of 2019, carried out by the Canadian Institute of Identities and Migration (CIIM), the Government is on track to keep the promise.
Indeed, the percentage in the reduction of immigrants entering Quebec between January to June 2019 actually exceeded 25 per cent.
Specifically, the report shows that ‘economic’ (skilled) immigration has been reduced from 14,125 immigrants in the first two quarters of 2018 to 9,565 in the same period in 2019, representing a 32.3 per cent reduction.
Sponsored Families dropped from 5,455 to 4,935, a 9.6 per cent reduction. Resettled refugee and protected person totals dropped from 4,357 to 3,495, a 20.2 per cent reduction. All other forms of immigration dropped from 525 to 205, a 61 per cent reduction.
Quebec has seen a bigger drop in its immigration numbers than any other province in Canada, although Saskatchewan has also seen a 20 per cent decline during this period. British Columbia and Alberta were the only other two provinces to see arrival numbers drop in the first half of 2019 – falling by 6.5 per cent and 5.9 per cent respectively.
In the first six months of this year, 11.25 per cent of all immigrants who arrived in Canada settled in Quebec. In the same period of 2018, Quebec’s immigration intake accounted for 16 per cent of the national total.
Article published 3rd September 2019