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The portion of the total population made up of non-permanent residents has doubled in three years.
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The number of temporary immigrants has continued its strong growth in Quebec over the past year, as it becomes an increasing source of tensions between the provincial and federal governments.
According to Statistics Canada data published Wednesday, there were 597,140 non-permanent residents in Quebec in the second quarter of 2024, compared to 421,149 a year earlier and 295,147 in 2022. The total has gone up in every quarter since 2021, and the portion of the total population made up of non-permanent residents has doubled to 6.6 per cent from 3.3 per cent in three years.
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In Ontario, the number of non-permanent residents increased from 880,511 in the second quarter of 2023 to 1,250,460 at the same time the following year.
Across Canada, there were 1,965,318 temporary immigrants in the second quarter of 2023, compared to 2,793,594 in 2024, as the country’s total population surpassed 41 million and Quebec’s climbed above 9 million.
Statistics Canada noted, however, that most of the growth occurred before the federal announcement that the number of permits issued to non-permanent residents would be capped in 2024.
Of the non-permanent residents in Quebec in the second quarter, 32 per cent were asylum claimants, 43 per cent were on work permits, 12 per cent on study permits and nine per cent on both work and study permits.
These figures risk once again feeding debates between the federal government and François Legault’s in Quebec, which has been calling for several months for a reduction in the number of temporary immigrants.
“This is the trend of recent months that continues to be at work,” responded Quebec minister of immigration, Christine Fréchette, on Wednesday. “This is far too significant, far too rapid an increase in the number of non-permanent residents in Quebec. This creates excessive pressure, both on housing and on our public services.
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“We are asking that a strong plan be adopted from the federal government, on the one hand, to distribute asylum seekers … and reduce the number of non-permanent residents,” she said.
On Tuesday, Legault and federal Minister of Immigration Marc Miller exchanged reproaches, after Legault told Radio-Canada that there would be “no more housing crisis” without the massive arrival of temporary immigrants over the past two years.
Legault even accused Miller of “treating Quebecers as racists.”
Federal ministers stepped up Wednesday to defend their colleague.
“I did not hear Mr. Miller say that Quebecers are racist. He never said it. He doesn’t think so,” said Quebec lieutenant Pablo Rodriguez.
“I am uncomfortable when Premier Legault puts words in the mouth of someone who did not say them, especially words of this content. It’s serious.”
According to the federal minister of innovation, science and industry, François-Philippe Champagne, the federal government is working to ensure a balance with regard to temporary immigration while Canada lacks manpower.
“I think that the measures we have taken recently, you have seen for example on foreign students, are to balance that a little,” he told journalists.
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“It takes a fair measure. We need people because in the region, one of the issues we hear about is a labour shortage. … On the other hand, we must ensure that the people we bring to our home can be welcomed.”
During his end-of-session statement in Ottawa, Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet expressed regret that communications were tense between the two levels of government.
“When you have a discussion with someone and then you start to raise your voice, people don’t come closer, they move away. Then the further away you go in a debate, the more you say bad words,” Blanchet said.
He did not agree with Legault’s comments, in which he attributed 100 per cent of the housing crisis to temporary immigrants, even if he judges that it is an “additional factor” in the problem.
“There is not good communication between Quebec and Ottawa when it comes to immigration. That said, Mr. Trudeau and Mr. Legault created, obtained and participated in a significant rapprochement. Let’s see what happens,” he added.
The Gazette contributed to this report.
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