Under section 95 of the Constitution Act, 1867, provincial and federal governments share responsibility for immigration. A provincial legislature can make any law concerning immigration to that province “as long and as far only as it is not repugnant to any Act of the Parliament of Canada.”
Since 2001, the principal federal law that governs immigration is the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. With the approval of Cabinet, this Act grants the federal immigration minister the right to enter into agreements on immigration with any provincial government. The Act sets out only one limitation: these agreements cannot limit the application of federal legislation on inadmissibility (i.e., concerning the rejection of an applicant because of security concerns, human or international rights violations, criminality and related criteria). To date, all provinces and two territories have entered one or more of these accords.
The Canada–Québec Accord relating to Immigration and Temporary Admission of Aliens (the Canada–Quebec Accord) is by far the oldest. It realizes commitments that appeared in the failed 1987 Meech Lake Accord which proposed amendments to the constitution. While the Meech Lake Accord imagined the future negotiation of immigration agreements with other provinces, it articulated in some detail the central elements of a new agreement with Quebec – one that should be concluded “as soon as possible.” These elements included commitments whereby Quebec would select its own immigrants, it would receive immigrants and refugees proportionate to its share of the population, and Canada would withdraw settlement services in Quebec and provide Quebec with compensation for these services.
Compared to later federal–provincial agreements, the Canada–Quebec Accord is also the most extensive. Under this Accord, for instance, Quebec has exclusive responsibility for selecting economic immigrants destined for that province – and for the criteria by which they are selected – rather than simply assessing and nominating some of them to address specific labour market and economic needs. Quebec, uniquely, sets the number of economic immigrants it will receive, rather than consulting with the federal government. It is also the only province that has selection authority over resettled refugees, while Canada identifies the pool of refugees for possible resettlement.
This paper provides an overview of the Accord. It outlines the Accord’s objectives and constitutional background, and it surveys the agreements made under the Accord about immigration levels, family reunification, refugees, visitors, the reception and integration of immigrants, and the ongoing administration of the Accord.
Read the full text of the HillStudy: Immigration: The Canada–Quebec Accord
By Martin McCallum and Julie Béchard, Library of Parliament
Categories: Executive summary, Government, Parliament and politics, Social affairs and population