44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 2, 2023 10:00AM
- Feb/2/23 2:39:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today, this is the first time that I will answer a question concerning francophone immigration and its importance for Quebec and the rest of Canada. I would like to point out to the House, because I do not know if I will have another opportunity, that this is the first time ever that we have met the target of 4.4% of francophone immigrants outside Quebec in Canada.
This is a success story for our government.
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- Feb/2/23 2:41:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, francophone immigration plays a key role in promoting the French language across Canada and Quebec. I would remind my colleagues that Quebec determines its selection criteria for the majority of immigrants in Quebec, including language skills.
We will always respect the jurisdictions of Quebec and we will continue to work with them.
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- Feb/2/23 2:42:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is well aware that the Canada-Quebec accord gives the province the exclusive authority to select the majority of its immigrants.
As I said, we have always respected and will always respect Quebec's jurisdiction over immigration. I know that our government is working very closely with Quebec to improve that framework. Let me reiterate that we met our 4.4% francophone immigration target outside Quebec.
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- Feb/2/23 2:56:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Quebec continues to be one of the government's valued partners, and we recognize that the province is working hard to support asylum seekers.
Our government has provided $534.5 million in assistance to the provinces, including $374 million to Quebec to alleviate the pressure of housing asylum seekers.
We have also invested $740 million to guarantee that they continue to have access to medical coverage to meet their immediate and essential medical needs.
We will continue to work with our partner.
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- Feb/2/23 3:06:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have to say that if it was a matter of will, there would be 40,000 Afghan refugees here already, but there are obstacles that are beyond certain control.
As the member just said, the minister did meet him, but let me remind this House of the last numbers we have. We have so far welcomed 26,700 Afghans who can now call Canada home.
We will continue to work with our Afghan community.
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- Feb/2/23 3:10:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are taking every step to address the backlog in the short term while making Canada's immigration system more sustainable in the long term.
Allow me to be very candid. We have processed approximately 4.8 million applications in total, nearly double the number of the year before. We tripled the number of work permits issued, and we returned to a 60-day service standard for new study permit applications. We achieved that by digitizing applications and hiring more people, more employees, to help us meet our commitments.
We are going to continue to be there to welcome more immigrants to Canada.
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