Ottawa opposed to Quebec setting conditions on permanent residency

A day after the Quebec government proposed an overhaul to its immigration laws, Ottawa says it's against one key change: imposing conditions on immigrants seeking permanent residency.

The CoalitionAvenirQubecgovernment tabled legislation Thursday that would give the province'simmigration minister the powerto ensure new arrivalsare meeting, among other things, regional labour needs, as well as successful "linguistic, social or economic integration" in the province.

Bill 9also puts an emphasis on immigrants learning French and adopting the "democratic values and the Quebec values expressed by the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms."

In a statement, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister DominicLeBlanc said Friday that jurisdiction over immigration is"clearly defined in the Canada-Quebec Accord, and we will always respect it."

"More analysis on Bill 9 is needed, however we do not support the reintroduction of conditional permanent residency."

He said the Trudeau government withdrew conditions on maintaining permanent residency, introduced under the previous Harper government, because they "endangered women in precarious situations."

He added that, with "more than 100,000 job vacancies, it is essential that our governments continue to work together to ensure that theimmigrationsystem works forQuebecersand Canadians."

The CAQ'sbill drew criticism from the OfficialOpposition in Quebec City, whichargued the bill's language shows that the CAQ is trying to circumvent federal law.

"They know they don't have the necessary latitude to act on permanent residents, but they are giving themselves a way to do so with another element of the law," saidLiberal immigration critic DominiqueAnglade.

Simon Jolin-Barrette on the CAQ's 'Tinder of immigration'

6 years ago

Duration 0:26

Quebec's immigration minister says the goal of Bill 9 is to make a more 'personalized' policy that addresses the worker shortage, instead of dealing with applicants in the order that they applied.

Quebec PremierFranois Legaultsaid Friday he is sure that he will be able to convince Ottawa to give the province more powers on immigration.

"I am confident that the federal government will giveQuebecerswhatQuebecerswant," he said,recalling that he received a "strong mandate" in last year's election.

The CAQpromisedto cut the number ofimmigrantsandintroduce a values test for new arrivals during the election campaign.