RBC Economist Says Canada Study Permit Cap Won’t Immediately Drive Down Rents

Colin Singer
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RBC Economist Says Canada Study Permit Cap Won’t Immediately Drive Down Rents

An RBC Economics report says Immigration Minister Marc Miller’s cap on study permit applications will not be enough to stop the inflationary effect on rents due to increasing numbers of international students in Canada – but it will slow down the pace of that inflation.

“Assuming similar enrollment rates and outflow patterns as those observed in the three post-pandemic years, we estimate 391,000 new international students will enter Canada this year and 291,000 will graduate or otherwise see their study permits expire,” wrote RBC economist Rachel Battaglia.

“This means the number of international students in Canada will continue to grow by 100,000, about 55 per cent less than the net increase in 2023.”

With that growth in international students in Canada, the pressure on rents from the international students’ demand for housing will moderate but not drop in the short-term.

“The impact on the rental housing market will run along the same lines,” wrote the economist.

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“But even though we’re expecting growth to moderate, this doesn’t translate to an outright fall in rental demand, at least not in the near-term. Given nearly all international students live in rented accommodation – we’re assuming 97 per cent – we estimate this slowdown could cut demand for new rentals by international students in half relative to 2023.”

As Canada struggled with the severe labour shortages in the country during the COVID-19 pandemic, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) removed the 20-hour weekly restriction on work hours for international students, allowing them to work up to 40 hours every week.

That temporary measure was initially intended to be in place until the end of last year but Immigration Minister Marc Miller has extended that deadline to the end of April this year.

Now, the immigration minister wants to scale back international students’ hours in the workplace.

“We have gotten addicted to temporary foreign workers,” Miller has reportedly told Bloomberg News

“Any large industry trying to make ends meet will look at the ability to drive down wages. There is an incentive to drive labour costs down. It’s something that’ll require a larger discussion.”

The proposed move to cut back on the work hours of international students comes in the wake of the IRCC having processed more than one million study permit applications last year.

“We finalized 1,089,600 study permit applications (including extensions) in 2023, up from 917,900 in 2022,” notes the IRCC website.

Last month, the immigration minister limited study permits to be handed out to international students in the coming year by the IRCC to only 606,250 study permit applications in 2024.

Study Permit Applications Will Be Capped At 606,250 This Year

“The intent of these Instructions is to ensure the number of study permit applications accepted into processing by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration … within the scope of the instructions does not exceed 606,250 study permit applications for one year beginning on the date of signature,” the Canada Gazette reported on Feb. 3.

The cap on study permit applications is expected to reduce the number of study permits by more than a third, The Globe and Mail has reported.

“The cap is expected to result in approximately 364,000 approved study permits, a decrease of 35 per cent from 2023,” the immigration minister has reportedly said. “In the spirit of fairness, we are also allocating the cap space by province, based on population.”

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Under the cap on study permits, it is expected the provinces and territories will each have a limit on their ability to welcome new international students. The national newspaper reports those proposed limits will allow some provinces to increase their international student population while dramatically cutting it in other provinces, including Ontario.

The cap on study permits and proposed reductions in the hours international students will be allowed to work off campus and other, suggested tweaks to TFWP to reduce the number of low-wage workers, though, have some business leaders worried.

At the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), president Dan Kelly has openly wondered whether the government is now operating in panic mode as it attempts to deflect from criticism that record immigration has fuelled inflation and caused much of the housing crisis.

He is hoping the government will properly think through the ramifications of changes to the TFWP, particularly for smaller and rural communities, as many businesses have come to rely on immigrants.

Canada Spousal Immigration Surged In 2023

Colin Singer
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Canada Spousal Immigration Surged In 2023

The latest data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) reveals spouses and common-law partners became Canadian immigrants in far greater numbers last year than in 2022.

As December came to a close, Canada had welcomed 75,185 new permanent residents through the spousal sponsorship program, up 17.2 per cent from the 64,145 in 2022.

The immigration program’s strong performance exceeded the growth in Canada’s overall immigration, which rose 7.8 per cent, to 471,550 new permanent residents from 437,595 the previous year.

And the spousal sponsorship program did particularly well in the last quarter of the year with much-higher numbers of spouses and common-law partners – 27.4 per cent more – in the last three months of 2023 compared to the previous year.

Canada’s most populous province, Ontario, once again saw the greatest number of arrivals under the spousal sponsorship program with 39,820 spouses making it their home last year.

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The other provinces and territories attracted the following number of new permanent residents under the spousal sponsorship program during that period:

  • Newfoundland and Labrador – 205
  • Prince Edward Island – 135
  • Nova Scotia – 935
  • New Brunswick – 510
  • Quebec – 6,995
  • Manitoba – 2,100
  • Saskatchewan – 1,360
  • Alberta – 10,290
  • British Columbia – 12,670
  • Yukon – 90
  • Northwest Territories – 60
  • Nunavut – 15

Among the provinces, Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta saw the greatest increases in spousal sponsorships with Ontario welcoming 29.3 per cent more spouses and common-law partners as new permanent residents last year, Manitoba seeing an increase of 25 per cent more, and Alberta a boost of 25.9 per cent.

In the francophone province of Quebec spousal sponsorships fell by the greatest relative amount across the country with La Belle Province seeing a decline of 23.7 per cent in spousal sponsorships.

Yukon, Northwest Territories Welcomed More Spouses Last Year

In Canada’s Far North, the Yukon saw growth of 28.6 per cent in spousal sponsorships last year and the Northwest Territories welcomed 20 per cent more spouses and common-law partners as new permanent residents.

Nunavut, though, saw a decline of 25 per cent in spousal sponsorships last year off a very small base in 2022.

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When a Canadian citizen or permanent resident chooses to sponsor a spouse or common-law partner to immigrate to Canada, the sponsor must sign an undertaking, promising to give financial support for the sponsored person’s basic needs, including:

  • food, clothing, shelter and their needs for everyday living, and;
  • dental care, eye care and other health needs not covered by public health services.

This agreement cannot be cancelled, even if:

  • the person sponsored becomes a Canadian citizen;
  • the couple divorces, separates or the relationship breaks down;
  • either the sponsor or the sponsored spouse or common-law partner moves to another province or country, or;
  • the sponsor experiences financial problems.

EI Payments Considered Income For Sponsor Of Spouse

Maternity, parental and sickness benefits paid under the Employment Insurance Act in Canada are all considered income and contribute to allowing a person to sponsor a spouse or common-law partner but other payments from the government, such as employment insurance and federal training allowances, are not considered income.

On its website, IRCC provides estimates of the current processing times for various types of applications, including spousal sponsorships.

According to that website, the current processing time for sponsorship applications for spouses or common-law partners currently outside the country and planning to live outside of Quebec is now down to 12 months, a considerable improvement over the 20-month processing time in 2022.

That estimated processing time includes:

  • the time needed to provide biometrics;
  • the assessment of the sponsor and the person being sponsored, and;
  • the time immigration officials need to ensure the sponsor and his or her spouse or common-law partner meet the eligibility requirements.

Intake For Alberta Opportunity Stream Temporarily Paused To Address Backlog

Colin Singer
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Intake For Alberta Opportunity Stream Temporarily Paused To Address Backlog

The Alberta Advantage immigration Program (AAIP) has temporarily paused intake for Alberta Opportunity Stream applications.

The AAIP will continue to assess those Alberta Opportunity Stream applications that were submitted prior to the pause’s institution.

Those applications in the AAIP portal that were in the draft stage but not uploaded before the pause, including those pending final fee payment, will not be accepted.

According to the AAIP website, “this pause will enable the program to address its current inventory and focus its limited immigration nominations on priorities, such as filling labour shortages in healthcare, technology, construction, agriculture, tourism and hospitality and other in-demand sectors.”

“The AAIP will be implementing measures to manage future application volumes against program priorities and to maintain reasonable service standards across its streams.”

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The website will be updated when the pause is lifted, and the stream begins to retake applications.

The Alberta Tourism and Hospitality Stream

This update comes just two days after the announcement of a new stream under AAIP, called the Tourism and Hospitality Stream, which will commence on March 1, 2024, and will help Alberta’s tourism and hospitality sectors deal with labour gaps and challenges.

Applications will be finite and expedited.

The main reason for this new stream will be to enable Alberta businesses in the tourism and hospitality industry to attract and retain workers.

What is the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program?

AAIP is an economic immigration program that nominates people for an Alberta PR.

Applicants need to have the skills to fill job shortages or be planning to buy or start a business in Alberta.

They must also be able to provide for their families.

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The program has three streams for foreign workers living and working in Alberta, or plan to live and work there:

The AAIP has four streams for entrepreneurs planning to live in Alberta and buy or start a business there:

The Employer-Driven Stream and Strategic Recruitment Stream expired in 2018.

Warning Was Issued To Immigration Officials About Letting International Students Work More Hours

Colin Singer
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Warning Was Issued To Immigration Officials About Letting International Students Work More Hours

A memo obtained by Canadian Press indicates that then Immigration Minister Sean Fraser was warned during the COVID-19 pandemic that allowing international students to work more hours could undermine the integrity of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).

“While a temporary increase in the number of hours international students can work off-campus could help address these shortages, this could detract from the primary study goal of international students to a greater emphasis on work, circumvent the temporary foreign worker programs and give rise to further program integrity concerns with the international student program,” that memo reportedly states.

During the pandemic, Ottawa struggled with the severe labour shortages in the country and so Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) removed the 20-hour weekly restriction on work hours for international students, allowing them to work up to 40 hours every week.

That temporary measure was initially intended to be in place until the end of last year but the current immigration minister, Marc Miller, has extended that deadline to the end of April this year.

The memo obtained by Canadian Press, though, reportedly indicated the reservations immigration staff had about such a move.

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Removing the limit for off-campus work would fly in the fact of the TFWP through which employers must prove they need a foreign national to fill a job because no Canadian or permanent resident is available to do it.

Obtained under an access to information request by the news agency, the memo’s warnings cast new light on Immigration Minister Marc Miller’s intention to cut back the number of hours international students will be allowed to work off campus.

“We have gotten addicted to temporary foreign workers,” Miller has reportedly told Bloomberg News

“Any large industry trying to make ends meet will look at the ability to drive down wages. There is an incentive to drive labour costs down. It’s something that’ll require a larger discussion.”

The proposed move to cut back on the work hours of international students comes in the wake of the IRCC having processed more than one million study permit applications last year.

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“We finalized 1,089,600 study permit applications (including extensions) in 2023, up from 917,900 in 2022,” notes the IRCC website.

Last month, the immigration minister limited study permits to be handed out to international students in the coming year by the IRCC would only accept 606,250 study permit applications in 2024.

“The intent of these Instructions is to ensure the number of study permit applications accepted into processing by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration … within the scope of the instructions does not exceed 606,250 study permit applications for one year beginning on the date of signature,” the Canada Gazette reported on Feb. 3.

Number Of Study Permits Could Drop By A Third

The cap on study permit applications is expected to reduce the number of study permits by more than a third, The Globe and Mail has reported.

“The cap is expected to result in approximately 364,000 approved study permits, a decrease of 35 per cent from 2023,” the immigration minister has reportedly said. “In the spirit of fairness, we are also allocating the cap space by province, based on population.”

Under the cap on study permits, it is expected the provinces and territories will each have a limit on their ability to welcome new international students. The national newspaper reports those proposed limits will allow some provinces to increase their international student population while dramatically cutting it in other provinces, including Ontario.

The cap on study permits and proposed reductions in the hours international students will be allowed to work off campus and other, suggested tweaks to TFWP to reduce the number of low-wage workers, though, have some business leaders worried.

At the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), president Dan Kelly has openly wondered whether the government is now operating in panic mode as it attempts to deflect from criticism that record immigration has fuelled inflation and caused much of the housing crisis.

He is hoping the government will properly think through the ramifications of changes to the TFWP, particularly for smaller and rural communities, as many businesses have come to rely on immigrants.

Francophone Immigration To Canada Discussed At Yellowknife Conference

Colin Singer
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Francophone Immigration To Canada Discussed At Yellowknife Conference

Pathways for Canadian businesses to hire French-speaking workers to fill vacancies and bolster diversity were discussed at a conference in Yellowknife.

The conference – which was the joint effort of two groups, namely Conseil de développement économique des Territoires du Nord-Ouest (CDÉTNO) and La Communauté francophone accueillante (CFA) – featured staff from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and Employment and Social Development Canada to answer questions about the francophone work permit offered by Ottawa.

The employment of francophone workers was called a “win-win” by Francois Afane, executive director of CDETNO, as reported by CBC. He asserted that this would help fill vacant roles and add diversity to the communities of Yellowknife and NWT.

“The need that we have, that is actually very, very desperate.”

According to Eric Neba, owner of Excel Moving and Cleaning Services, Yellowknife has difficulties in attracting employees because of many reasons – weather, housing, and a lack of high-paying jobs.

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Immigration to NWT depends on three streams – the Employer-Driven Stream, the Business Stream, and the Francophone Stream.

While the Employer-Driven Stream is for businesses who want to hire and nominate foreigners when no Canadians can do the job (with sub-streams of Skilled Worker, Entry Level/Semi-Skilled Occupations, and NWT Express Entry), the Business Stream is for foreigners wanting to start a business in Canada.

The third stream – the Francophone Stream – allows qualified bilingual foreigners with a job offer in NWT to apply to the Northwest Territories Nominee Program (NTNP).

It is designed to boost the labour pool for bilingual workers within all National Occupational Classification skill levels.

NTNP is delivered in partnership between the Government of the Northwest Territories and IRCC.

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It is delivered by two departments – the Department of Industry, Tourism, and Investment, which delivers the Business Stream, and the Department of Education, Culture, and Employment, which delivers Employer-Driven Streams.

The Employer-Driven Streams aids: 

  • employers secure highly skilled individuals and newcomers to work and live in NWT;
  • to strengthen the economy by attracting qualified people to fill critical labour shortages in the NWT;
  • support territorial employers to fill labour shortages when no qualified Canadians are available;
  • strengthen the NWT’s ability to enhance the economic benefits of immigration to the territory; and
  • nominate eligible foreign nationals for Canada permanent residency.

Nova Scotia Officials To Meet Immigration Minister Marc Miller On International Student Cap 

Colin Singer
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Nova Scotia Officials To Meet Immigration Minister Marc Miller On International Student Cap 

Canada Immigration Minister Marc Miller is meeting with officials in Nova Scotia to discuss the two-year cap imposed on study permits.

The cap – which was introduced last month and limits international student numbers in 2024 to just 360,000 – has become the source of heated debate.

According to Miller, who gave an interview to CBC Radio’s Information Morning Nova Scotia host Portia Clark, it was introduced as a means of tackling the affordable housing crisis and cracking down on private colleges that mislead and exploit international students about their chances of staying in the country after graduating.

“The international student increase has occurred notably in British Columbia and in Ontario but recently in … P.E.I., Nova Scotia and New Brunswick which were on an untenable trajectory as well,” said Miller.

“We were looking at a spike of from one million international students on three-year permits for the last three years to 1.4 million next year which, if that continues, could present some real challenges in housing and perhaps even folks that would be claiming asylum at the end.”

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Miller said that provinces will have to act swiftly to ensure that they look at which academic institutions fall under them to regulate them in terms of international student admissions.

This is a means of restoring the “integrity” of the Canada international student program, as was declared when the news regarding the caps was first released.

According to IRCC, some institutions have significantly increased their international student intakes to boost their revenues, causing more students to come to Canada without the requisite support.

Miller said in the interview that “there is a recognition among those institutions that have been behaving well that this was a long time coming.”

“There are others that are hiding and there are others that are finding a lot of excuses to find all sorts of evils in what I announced.”

He did say, however, that international students are not to be blamed for this, and there needs to be a check in place to ensure the actors who are actually in the wrong are punished.

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Nova Scotia, according to him, was not an outlier in terms of the volume, but was on a trajectory that would eventually lead it to reach numbers that Ontario already sits at.

IRCC has not finalized its numbers yet but will do so in the next few days.

Prince Edward Island PNP Draw: Province Issues 122 Canada Immigration Invitations

Colin Singer
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Prince Edward Island PNP Draw: Province Issues 122 Canada Immigration Invitations

Prince Edward Island has conducted a new provincial draw, issuing invitations to apply to 122 skilled worker and entrepreneur Canada immigration candidates.

The February 15 draw saw invitations issued through the Labour Impact, Express Entry and Business Impact Prince Edward Island Provincial Nominee Program (PEI PNP) streams.

It saw 121 invites issued to Labour Impact and Express Entry candidates working for a PEI employer with a minimum score of 65.

Business Impact candidates received 1 invitation, requiring a minimum score of 105 points.

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PEI PNP Immigration Draw

Date Category Invites Issued Minimum Score
15-02-2024 Labour Impact/Express Entry 121 65
Business Impact 1 105

PEI launched its Expression of Interest system at the start of 2018, and has made monthly draws ever since, with some disruption due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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PEI issued 2,423 invites in 2023, up from 1,853 during 2022.

Of the 2023 invites, 2,359 went to Labour Impact and Express Entry candidates, with the remaining 64 going to Business Impact candidates.

Prince Edward Island Express Entry Stream

PEI’s Express Entry category operates by considering candidates already in the federal Express Entry Pool for a provincial nomination.

Such a nomination adds 600 points to a candidate’s Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score and effectively guarantees an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for Canadian immigration.

The PEI Express Entry Category features two pathways to Canadian permanent residence, one for candidates with a job offer and one for those without.

Prince Edward Island Labour Impact Category

1) Skilled Worker Stream

This employer driven stream allows skilled workers with an employment offer in PEI to be nominated for Canadian Permanent residence if they meet the following criteria:

  • A full time employment offer from a Prince Edward Island business in an occupation classified as TEER category 0, 1, 2 or 3 of the National Occupational Classification (NOC);
  • Completion of a post-secondary education, with a minimum of 14 years of formal education;
  • Between 21 and 55 years of age;
  • At least 2 years of full time work experience in the past 5 years;
  • Sufficient proficiency in English or French to occupy the employment offered;
  • Sufficient settlement funds;
  • Demonstrated intention to settle in Prince Edward Island.

2) Critical Worker Stream

This category is designed to resolve labour shortages and is open to foreign workers already in PEI with employment in specific critical demand occupations. The primary criteria for nomination are:

  • A full time offer of employment from a Prince Edward Island business in one of the following occupations:
    • Truck driver;
    • Customer service representative;
    • Labourer;
    • Food & beverage server;
    • Housekeeping attendant.
  • 6 months of work experience with the Prince Edward Island business offering employment;
  • Current valid Canadian work permit;
  • High school diploma and minimum of 12 years of formal education;
  • Between 21 and 55 years of age;
  • At least 2 years of full-time work experience in the past 5 years;
  • Demonstrate basic proficiency in English or French language;
  • Sufficient settlement funds;
  • Demonstrated intention to settle in Prince Edward Island.

Prince Edward Island Business Impact Category

Work Permit Stream

Individuals applying under the P.E.I. Work Permit Stream must obtain a Canadian work permit and work for a P.E.I. business for a certain amount of time as designated in a Performance Agreement.

After the Performance Agreement is fulfilled, the applicant must make a minimum $150,000 investment in the business and commit to managing the business on a daily basis from within P.E.I.

Previously, Prince Edward Island operated direct permanent residence business streams, but these were closed in September 2018 over immigration fraud concerns.

Business Groups Tell IRCC To Let In More Construction Trades Helpers

Colin Singer
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Business Groups Tell IRCC To Let In More Construction Trades Helpers

The president of a British Columbia business group says Canada needs to let in more foreign nationals through its immigration programs to help in the construction of new housing for Canadians.

“The government’s solution to prioritize construction workers for permanent residency solely hinges on the new category-based selection process to expedite entry for permanent residency applicants with specific trade skills,” Anita Huberman, president and CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade, has reportedly said.

“Despite this program’s utility, it excludes applicants with experience as construction trades helpers and labourers, which is one of the top two residential construction occupations most in need of workers.”

Under its Housing Action Plan announced in November, Ottawa is trying to jumpstart the construction of rental housing with an additional $15 billion in new loan funding, starting in 2025-26, for the Apartment Construction Loan Program.

“This investment will support more than 30,000 additional new homes across Canada, bringing the program’s total contribution to more than 101,000 new homes supported by 2031-32,” notes the Department of Finance on its website.

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Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has also made it easier for employers in the construction trades to hire foreign nationals for jobs that are going begging for a lack of Canadians to fill them.

Canadian employers who are hoping to bring in foreign nationals to Canada as temporary workers through the streamlined, Recognized Employer Pilot (REP) can now hire them for a greatly-expanded list of eligible occupations, including many of the trades such as carpenters, cabinetmakers, construction millwrights, heaving, refrigeration and air conditioning mechanics, and residential and commercial installers and servicers.

British Columbia business leaders say that’s a good first step but more need to be done to effectively address the residential construction labour shortages.

“Really, it’s making sure that through the various immigration programs – including Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada – that there’s opportunity for a higher number of skilled labour folks as a portion of those immigration numbers that are allowed under the various programs,” Trevor Koot, CEO of the British Columbia Real Estate Association, reportedly told the Business In Vancouver newspaper.

Calls For Easing Of Immigration Program Criteria For Construction Sector

“And to give a little bit more flexibility on requirements like the language requirements, because to offer the skills that are required to build a home are far more important than somebody having a dual language or other requirements that the immigration programs are outlining right now.”

The West Coast province is expected to have a shortfall of 4,500 workers to fill jobs in the residential construction sector this year, notes the Canadian Builders Association of BC (CHBA BC).

Through its two-tier immigration system, Canada allows foreign nationals to gain their permanent residency through the federal Express Entry system’s Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program, Federal Skilled Trades (FST) program and Canadian Experience Class (CEC), as well as the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) of the 10 Canadian provinces.

Under the Express Entry system, immigrants can apply for permanent residency online and their profiles then are ranked against each other according to a points-based system called the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). The highest-ranked candidates will be considered for an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residence. Those receiving an ITA must quickly submit a full application and pay processing fees, within a delay of 60-days.

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Through a network of  PNPs, almost all of Canada’s ten provinces and three territories can also nominate skilled worker candidates for admission to Canada when they have the specific skills required by local economies. Successful candidates who receive a provincial or territorial nomination can then apply for Canadian permanent residence through federal immigration authorities.

Temporary workers come to Canada via a number of channels, including the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) for those who require a Labour Market Impact Assessment and the International Mobility Program for those who do not.

A positive LMIA confirms there is a need for a foreign worker to fill the job at hand and that no Canadian worker is available to do the job.

The IMP allows Canadian employers to hire foreign workers without the need for an LMIA. It includes intra-company transferees, those entering Canada as part of trade treaties, such as the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) or the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) and those who qualify for an open work permit.

The Global Talent Stream (GTS), a part of the TFWP, can under normal processing situations lead to the granting of Canadian work permits and processing of visa applications within two weeks.

The TFWP is made up of high-skilled workers, low-skilled workers, and the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program.

Temporary Residents Behind Growth In Quebec Workforce 

Colin Singer
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Temporary Residents Behind Growth In Quebec Workforce 

Immigration boosted the number of workers in Quebec and helped resolve labour shortages, a think-tank has said.

“We see that this labor supply has really increased significantly over the last year, almost 100,000 more people,” Emna Braham, director of the Institut du Québec (IDQ), reportedly told the French-language service of Canadian Press.

“This growth has been largely attributable to temporary immigration over the past year.”

According to Statistics Canada, the province of Quebec hit a new record for temporary residents in the fourth quarter of last year with the number of these residents spiking 42.3 per cent to hit 528,034.

A year earlier, there were only 360,936 temporary residents in that province which has under the leadership of its premier, François Legault, repeatedly stated it will hold the line on immigration.

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The Quebecois premier repeatedly insisted last year that Quebec would hold the line at 50,000 new permanent residents.

The latest data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) shows Legault’s immigration officials seem to have made good on that election promise with 52,790 new permanent residents to the province last year.

Although the province was well  on its way to much-higher immigration numbers right up through to the end of the third quarter of the year, monthly immigration rates fell precipitously in October, going from 6,140 arrivals in September to only 3,785 the following month and then only 2,225 and 2,595 for each of November and December.

The provincial government in Quebec sees immigration, particularly that immigration from non-French-speaking countries, as a possible threat to the long-term viability of the Quebecois culture.

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Legault has made it clear his government is deeply-committed to ensuring the survival of the French language and has gone so far as to put forth proposals to limit all economic immigration to the province to French-speaking immigrants by 2026.

“As premier of Quebec, my first responsibility is to defend our language and our identity,” said Legault. “During the past few years, the French language has been in decline in Quebec. Since 2018, our government has acted to protect our language, more so than any previous government since the adoption of Bill 101 under the Levesque government.

Quebec Premier Wants All Economic Immigration To Be Francophone By 2026

“But, if we want to turn the tide, we must do more. By 2026, our goal is to have almost entirely francophone economic immigration. We have the duty, as Québécois, to speak French, to daily pass on our culture and to be proud of it.”

With immigration providing a growing workforce for the province and the rising interest rates slowing down economic growth in Quebec, the number of job vacancies has fallen from 211,000 to 149,000 over the course of the past year.

That’s despite a net growth of 67,000 jobs in Quebec last year.

“We are no longer at the level of post-pandemic catch-up, but we are still at a level of job creation which is close to what we experienced on the eve of the pandemic, between 2016 and 2019, at times when Quebec’s economy was going well,” noted the IDQ in a statement.

Temporary workers and international students in Quebec often later seek to immigrate to Canada through either the federal Express Entry system’s Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program, Federal Skilled Trades (FST) program and Canadian Experience Class (CEC) or the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) of the provinces.

Canada Permanent Residence Pathway For Former Wards Of Protective Care

Colin Singer
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Canada Permanent Residence Pathway For Former Wards Of Protective Care

Canada has a new immigration pathway for foreign nationals who aged out of protective care services before they could get their permanent residence or citizenship – and face the possibility of deportation back to their home countries.

“A small number of individuals who came to Canada as minors never obtained permanent residence or citizenship while they were in the custody of child protection services,” notes Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

“As a result, some of these vulnerable people who never had status – or lost it – are now at risk of being deported to their country of birth. After living in Canada for years, many have little or no connection to their country of birth, and often do not speak the language.”

Under the new pathway, which will remain in effect until Jan. 27, 2027, Ottawa is offering permanent residence to foreign nationals and their families if they:

  • came to Canada when they were less than 19 years old;
  • were under the legal responsibility of a child and family services provider, and;
  • may now face deportation.

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Canadian immigration is waiving all fees for eligible foreign nationals who were in state care who can also choose to apply for a temporary resident permit to allow them to stay in Canada as temporary residents.

The eligibility criteria for permanent residence under the new pathway include:

  • coming to Canada before the age of 19;
  • having continuously resided in Canada for at least three years prior to filing an application;
  • having continuously resided in Canada since the age of 19;
  • having been under the legal responsibility of a child and family services provider under a provincial or territorial government’s designated ministry for child protection for at least one year in total;
  • being physically present in Canada when submitting the application and being granted permanent residence;
  • intending to reside in a territory or province other than the province of Quebec;
  • not being a person against whom there are serious reasons for considering that they have committed a crime against peace, a war crime or a serious non-political crime outside of Canada or been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations;
  • having a valid passport, travel documents, identity documents, or a statutory declaration that the applicant is admissible to be in Canada.

“You must declare all your accompanying family members as well as your non-accompanying family members in your application,” notes the IRCC.

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“If you don’t include your non-accompanying family members, you won’t be able to sponsor them as family members later.”

This new pathway builds on the IRCC’s move in late September last year to allow these people to apply for temporary residence in Canada and get work permits and study permits. Those who applied for that temporary resident permit last year now become eligible to apply for permanent residence.

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