Immigrants in Quebec live in clover: the province provides an integration program and free French courses with a scholarship, as well as appoints personal assistants who help find work.
After the Coalition For Quebec’s Future (Coalition Avenir Québec, CAQ) won the election last October, it embarked on a reform of the immigration system focusing on integrating newcomers and addressing labour shortages in the province by selecting the most skilled workers.
CAQ is in talks with the federal government to reduce the number of refugees from 8,000 to 7,500 per year. At the same time, the party intends to increase the number of economic migrants in the province from 29,000 to 34,000.
Quebec’s Minister of Immigration, Simon Jolin-Barrette, said the government wants potential immigrants to get help in both the immigration process and integration into Quebec society.
Under the new plan that will cost C$20 million a year, immigrants will get personalized support from an immigration officer, so they will be able to assimilate more quickly in the province. An immigrant will be assigned an agent before he or she arrives in Quebec. This agent will meet them at the airport, help sign up for French courses, attend information sessions, and find a job.
As planned, the agents should monitor each immigrant assigned to them and help him or her in every way. A total of 78 assistants will be hired.
Moreover, the government has allocated over C$70 million to provide French courses to foreigners. Temporary workers, foreign students, and their spouses, as well as foreigners who have been in Quebec for more than five years, will be able to benefit from free lessons and also receive a scholarship for studying.
Immigrants will also get C$185 from the government if they attend integration courses that introduce newcomers to Quebec’s socio-cultural reality and the labour market.