Immigration to Quebec Continues to Decline

The province of Quebec has one of the oldest populations in the Canadian territory. Its growth rate is on par with the rest of the country. With significantly low birth rates, the primary source of revenue for its economy to sustain is its growth in immigration percentages.

However, the statistics provided by the IRCC say something else. The figures say show the rate of immigration to Quebec fell by approximately 21%. In the past year, refugee and family class admissions for permanent residency have shown a fall by 17 and 20 percent, respectively. Although the government of Quebec took this decision, the choice is not working in their favor.

With investors not wanting to invest here because of seemingly a smaller number of workers, the per capita income of the population of Quebec has now reached the second-lowest position when compared to all the other 10 Canadian provinces. The government’s reason behind this cut down was to encourage more French speakers into their labor market. But if this is the case, the economic growth of Quebec will face considerable problems in years to come.

To return to an average growth pace and keep the economy healthy, Quebec will require to increase its immigrant threshold by a large scale. The latest decisions are taken by the government state that there will be a rise in the number of immigrants this year. The target set is 44500 immigrants.

Keeping in mind the low unemployment rates, the introduction of more laborers can significantly help the economy. The two leading business groups of the province, The Quebec Council of Employers and The Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal, have suggested increasing the number of immigrants to 60000 annually. This increase will help tackle the labor shortage that is prevailing in the province and, in turn, will help the economy.