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A new study is calling on Quebec鈥檚 government to restore its immigration target of 50,000 newcomers a year.听

The study by the independent Institut de recherche et d鈥檌nformations socio-茅conomiques (IRIS) contends that the government鈥檚 justification for reducing its immigration target for 2019 to 40,000 鈥� that too many new arrivals are not integrating into Quebec society 鈥� 鈥渉as never been established scientifically.鈥�

The study follows a series of controversial moves by the province鈥檚 new Coalition Avenir Qu茅bec (CAQ) government, including its recent effort to dismiss a backlog of just over 18,000 pending applications as part of a proposed overhaul of the province鈥檚 immigration laws known as .

Written by researcher Julia Posca, the paper provides a statistical snapshot of indicators including mastery of French, education levels and employment rate to assess the CAQ鈥檚 claims that immigrants have been falling short in these areas.

In terms of language, the study points to statistics from both Quebec鈥檚 Immigration Ministry and the Institute de la statistique du Quebec that show nearly 60 per cent of immigrants admitted to Quebec already speak French or French and English by the time they arrive in the province.

Immigrants to Quebec are also better educated compared to non-immigrants, Posca writes. Among Quebecers aged 25 to 54, 42 per cent of immigrants have a certificate, diploma or university degree compared to 24.9 per cent of Quebec residents who were born in Canada.

As to employment, Posca said discrepancies persist between immigrants and Canadian-born residents of Quebec, but the gap is narrowing. The employment rate of Quebecers born in Canada was 86.6 per cent in 2018 compared to 78.9 per cent for immigrants, which Posca noted was slightly better than Ontario鈥檚 immigrant employment rate of 78.5 per cent.

鈥淚n summary, immigrants in Quebec master French as never before, are highly educated and participate en masse in the labour market,鈥� Posca writes.

The study also downplayed the government鈥檚 claims that too few immigrants to Quebec are retained. Posca points to statistics showing that 82.2 per cent of economic immigrants to Quebec admitted to the province in 2010 were still there five years later.

鈥淭he fact is if we compare Quebec to other provinces in Canada we realize that [Quebec] is one of the four provinces where the retention rate is greatest,鈥� Posca told 色狐入口. 鈥淲e realize that provinces that have more immigrants have the best retention rates.鈥�

The IRIS study points to a 2018 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development study that shows countries that welcome more immigrants are also those where immigrants enjoy better outcomes relative to those born there.

鈥淭here is nothing to indicate that accepting fewer immigrants will improve their lot,鈥� it argues.

The study posits that the main obstacles to integration are in fact issues on the host society鈥檚 end such as the recognition for professional credentials and work experience obtained outside Canada and employment discrimination.

Bill 9, however, does not address either of these concerns, it says.

The move to reduce immigration at a time when Quebec鈥檚 population is ageing and its employers are facing a serious shortage of labour is also questioned, as is what the study calls the CAQ鈥檚聽 鈥渦tilitarian鈥� view of immigration as a means to primarily economic ends.

鈥淚n effect, the government is putting an end to the citizen鈥檚 approach to immigration, where immigrants are considered for their social, cultural and economic contributions,鈥� it says.

The study recommends that Quebec return to its previous admissions target of 50,000 newcomers 鈥渁s much for human as demographic and economic reasons.鈥�

鈥淲ith this level of immigration, the employment rate has been going up. The number of immigrants was not the problem,鈥� Posca told 色狐入口.

鈥淨uebec also has an ageing population, so if we want to address this problem in the future, we should welcome immigrants who are, on average, younger than the population in Quebec,鈥� she added. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 seem like a good idea right now to not host those people who want to have a life project here in Quebec.鈥�

The study also calls on the government to allocate a 鈥渟ignificant鈥� budget for both governmental and non-governmental organizations in the province that work directly with newcomers to the province in order to meet its stated goal of 鈥渆fficient and personalized鈥� integration services.

In response to the study, the government聽stood by its views on immigration and highlighted the fact it was elected on a platform to reform Quebec鈥檚 immigration policies.

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