Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
editor@qctonline.com
On Oct. 31, Quebec Minister of Immigration, Francisation and Integration Jean-François Roberge announced an eight- month moratorium on two popular programs aimed at giving skilled workers and foreign graduates of Quebec universities a pathway to permanent residence and eventual Canadian citizenship.
At a press conference where he tabled the province’s 2025 immigration plan, Roberge announced that no applications for a Quebec selection certificate (CSQ) through Quebec’s regular skilled worker program (known by its French acronym PRTQ) or for the Quebec Experience Program for recent graduates of Quebec universities (known as the PEQ-Diplômés) would be accepted until June 30, 2025. Immigrants living in Quebec who want to apply for permanent residency – a prerequisite for citizenship – must first have a CSQ issued by the Quebec government.
A spokesperson later clarified that applications submitted before Oct. 31 would be processed; 3,090 applications for the PEQ-Diplômés and 9,261 applications for the PRTQ were being processed as of Oct. 1.
The moratorium, coming a few weeks after the government voted to give itself additional powers over im- migration, “gives us room to manoeuvre to carry out a thorough reflection for the next im- migration plan,” Roberge said. He also said the freeze would allow Quebec to keep the num-
ber of permanent immigrants for 2025 “controlled, at around 64,000 people,” adding, “If we hadn’t taken this courageous decision, it would have been around 70,000.”
Employers’ groups and groups advocating for foreign students reacted with alarm. “The issue of labour shortages is still a reality that is holding businesses back,” said Fran- çois Vincent, vice-president for Quebec at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. “The lack of qualified employees is the number one obstacle to sales and produc- tion for small- and medium- sized businesses.”
“It’s true that we are facing pressure on housing and that it’s appropriate to adapt im- migration to the needs of the labour market,” Vincent went on. “However, given Quebec’s demographic profile and the need for labour, hasty decisions
that significantly reduce the level of immigration will leave their mark. There will be nega- tive impacts for employers, employers and the regional economy.”
Le Québec, c’est nous aussi (LQNA; “We too are Quebec”), a provincewide youth-led immigrant rights group, ex- pressed its “profound worry.”
“To be eligible for either of these programs, a person needs to show a certain level of French proficiency. Those who are eligible for the PEQ- Diplômés program, by defini- tion, are already in Quebec and have obtained a diploma from a Quebec post-secondary institu- tion. This freeze [is not] an ef- ficient measure to counteract the so-called pressure put on the system by immigrants. It … brutally slams the door on a number of workers already established in Quebec,” LQNA said in a statement.
“The announcement of the suspension of the [PEQ-Diplô- més program] sows concern within our international stu- dent community and raises many questions,” Jérôme Pel- letier, a spokesperson for Uni- versité Laval, told the QCT. “We hope this program will be put back in place as soon as pos- sible so people trained in our universities can contribute to the development of Quebec. A number of students choose to study at Laval in hopes of stay- ing here, and choose Quebec City and Laval because of the PEQ.”
The staff of federal MPs pro- vide free guidance to residents of their ridings who have immi- gration questions and are often the first stop for immigrants worried about their status or that of a family member. Québec MP Jean-Yves Duclos acknowledged the moratorium was “their [the Quebec govern-
ment’s] decision,” but said his staff was “hearing a lot of worries from people who want to make their lives here, who learned French, whose kids go to school here, who have good careers. They don’t know what to do. … We don’t really have a reassuring answer.”
Opposition parties panned the decision, with interim Quebec Liberal Leader Marc Tanguay saying it would deter talented foreign workers and Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, whose party has called for a target as low as 35,000, saying Roberge has “lost control of his targets.”
“Whatever we do in immi- gration, there will be people telling us we are welcoming too many and people telling us we aren’t welcoming enough, and that’s always how it will be, because we’re not extremists,” Roberge told reporters.