Quebec could admit up to 52,500 new permanent residents in 2022, the province said in its new immigration plan released October 28.

Most of new admissions to Quebec in 2022 will come through the province’s economic immigration programs, including the Quebec Skilled Worker Program (QSWP) and the Québec experience program (PEQ).

The plan stays the course on the targets established during the public consultation held in the summer of 2019 as part of Quebec Immigration Planning for the 2020-2022 period.

It calls for the admission of 49,500 to 52,500 immigrants in 2022 across all categories, as well as an additional 18,000 admissions to reach the admission levels that were not met by the federal government in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that more than 70,000 newcomers could be admitted to the province of Quebec in 2022.

With a maximum target of 33,900, the economic category represents the largest proportion of newcomers. In this category, the province expects to welcome up to 28,800 skilled workers and up to 4,300 business immigrants, which would include investors, entrepreneurs, and the self-employed.

The remaining 18,600 new permanent residents are expected to arrive through family reunification, refugees, and other immigration programs.

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The immigration levels plan is presented each year by the Quebec Immigration Department. It indicates the number of new permanent residents the province intends to admit in the coming year, as well as the categories in which it will admit them.

Following a 1991 immigration agreement signed with Canada, Quebec became responsible for setting its own admission targets. Quebec is the only province in Canada with such an arrangement with Canada’s federal government.

The new figures announced today mark an increase in Quebec’s immigration targets compared to the past two years.

This increase is in line with the promise made by the province’s current governing party, the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), to gradually increase the number of newcomers after reducing admission targets back in 2019. A 20 per cent decrease was introduced that year by the CAQ to improve the selection and francization of newcomers to Quebec.

When the CAQ lowered admission targets, it did so on the basis that Quebec already has difficulty with the integration and francization of its newcomers. Since then, the Quebec government has focused on the integration and francization of new permanent residents by making significant investments in this area. Over the coming years, Quebec will likely continue to cautiously increase its immigration targets to ensure it is able to meet its integration goals.

In addition to increasing immigration targets, other important new measures have recently been taken by the Quebec government to facilitate the arrival of foreign workers in the province. These include increasing the limit on the percentage of temporary foreign workers that businesses in certain sectors of the economy can hire from 10 to 20 per cent of their workforce.

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