Quebec declared its immigration plan for 2024 & the final guidelines for the Immigration Plan in Quebec for 2024-25. In 2024-25, the Quebec government plans to increase the number of French-speaking immigrants & increase the knowledge of French among newcomers via the implementation of ‘Francisation Quebec’.
These measures include selecting applicants who are proficient in French, encouraging younger immigrants to come to Quebec to limit the effects of the aging population in the province, promoting reception integration, & reception of immigrants in all regions of the province.
Quebec’s Yearly Immigration
The Quebec government has also decided to keep the immigration number at 50,000 admissions to Quebec every year, which will be added to ongoing ‘continuous’ admissions of individuals selected as part of PEQ.
Continuous admissions imply that people selected as a part of PEQ will be admitted while their applications for PR are submitted. IRCC will examine the PR applications without considering annual provincial targets.
Following the guidelines, the majority of immigration to the province will come from the economic immigration category. In addition, admissions in this category will remain at 31,950 in 2024 – 2025.
Skilled workers will make up the bulk of economic immigration. The target for skilled workers will increase slightly from 30,650 in 2024 to 31,500 in 2025. Moreover, immigration admissions in the business category will increase from 1,250 admissions in 2024 to 1,450 admissions in 2025.
Immigration levels in the family class will remain at 10,400 every year.
Requiring French Language Knowledge
As Quebec declared its immigration plan, the government confirmed the enactment of regulatory modifications that make knowledge of French compulsory for Quebec immigration programs. The Quebec government intends to require an oral knowledge of level 4 French for workers participating in the TFWP.
However, there will be an exception to French language requirements for agricultural workers. Individuals eligible for the exception are workers who are applying to renew their CAQ after living & working in Quebec for more than three years.
In addition, the government also opted to release the immigration plan for the next two years instead of four in order to monitor the situation & determine the effect of new measures while ensuring the vitality of the French language.
Lastly, the Immigration Plan also reflects the goal of the Quebec government of using immigration to the province to respond to labor market needs, thus supporting economic development while recognizing the capacity of the province to welcome & integrate newcomers into French.