The number of temporary immigrants has quintupled in Quebec since 2016, according to the most recent portrait of immigration from the Institut du Québec (IDQ), released on Wednesday.
Between 2016 and 2019, the net number of non-permanent residents (so-called temporary immigrants) rose from 12,671 to 61,668. While this number represented on average 9% of the net number of international immigrants between 2012 and 2016, this percentage rose to 64% in 2019.
The study also indicates that they seem to integrate better into the labor market. Over the past ten years, the employment rate of immigrants aged 25 to 54 has increased from 69.9% to 81.9%, catching up with that of Ontario (81.4% in April 2022) and equalizing almost with that of British Columbia (82.1% in April 2022), even if the delays in obtaining permanent residence seem longer in Quebec than anywhere else in the country.
According to the IDQ, these wait times are mainly attributable to the time the federal government takes to process the aspects for which it is responsible (verifications related to health, safety and federal standards). The latter spends an average of 31 months to analyze a file, while the overall process can take 37 months.
“These disproportionate administrative delays put Quebec at a considerable disadvantage, because they unduly prolong the period of uncertainty experienced by applicants and harm Quebec’s attractiveness and competitiveness, in particular to the detriment of Ontario, which provides much shorter delays. “, lamented Mia Homsy, President and CEO of the IDQ.
To improve the situation, the Institute suggests what Prime Minister Legault has been asking for several months, namely to modify the Canada-Quebec Accord so that Quebec obtains more powers in immigration. Thus, the province will be able to “verify by itself the criteria relating to the criminality, security and health of immigrants of the economic class, which would considerably speed up the process and reduce the unacceptable delays on the federal side”, a- we specified.
Few immigrants choose the region
Montreal is still a destination of choice for immigrants. Nearly 85% of them choose the metropolis to settle there. “A proportion that has changed little in recent years. Between 2015 and 2019, 11 of the 17 administrative regions of Quebec received an average of less than 1,000 permanent immigrants per year, while the administrative region of Montreal received some 37,000,” added the IDQ.
