The number of non-permanent residents in Canada and Quebec continues to explode, contributing to faster population growth than in recent decades. Temporary immigrants of all categories combined accounted for nearly 2.2 million people in the country and 470,976 in Quebec as of July 1, Statistics Canada said Wednesday morning.
These are those currently in the area and not annual newcomers. These are the first estimates based on the actual 2021 census, the federal agency said during its technical briefing for journalists.
This population on temporary visas “has now surpassed that of the 1.8 million Indigenous peoples counted in the 2021 Census,” Statistics Canada said in a news release. It increased by 68% nationwide between July 1, 2021 and July 1, 2023.
Work-only permit holders make up almost half of all temporary workers, i.e. one million people. In Quebec, this proportion was slightly lower at 43%.
Other categories of temporary immigrants included in the data include foreign students, totaling 856,051 with or without work permits. The 84,191 family members remain who accompany these immigrants but do not have permission themselves.
About one in ten temporary residents were asylum seekers in Canada, making them the smallest category. Here, too, the proportion varies in Quebec: last July there were 146,723 asylum seekers there, which corresponds to 31% of all non-permanent residents.
The number of people with temporary residence permits entering the country in the last four quarters (between 2022 and 2023) also rose to 600,000 people. For the first time, it exceeded the number of permanent immigrants admitted in the same period.
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Due to the steady decline in the birth rate, almost all population growth (98%) is now due to immigration. Last year’s growth was the strongest since 1957, the year when large numbers of Hungarian refugees arrived in Canada and the baby boom reached its peak.
Canada still leads the G7 countries in terms of population growth rate, at a rate of 3.3% per year, as the director of the Center for Demography at Statistics Canada previously explained to Le Devoir, Laurent Martel.
“If last year’s demographic growth rate remained at the same level going forward, Canada’s population would double in 25 years,” that panel said Wednesday.
The provinces are not growing at the same pace, with Alberta seeing the strongest growth of all.
Quebec is at the end, second to last, just ahead of Newfoundland. What is also new is that the coastal provinces are among the fastest growing, whereas ten years ago they were still recording losses.
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Meanwhile, in Quebec, the issue of temporary immigrants has emerged in public consultations on immigration planning, despite the government’s refusal to include them in the discussions.
Facing calls from opposition parties, Immigration Minister Christine Fréchette on Tuesday ordered the Commission of Labor Market Partners (CPMT) to assess the impact of closed work permits on temporary foreign workers. In particular, his ministry would like to obtain “recommendations and concrete proposals” to review certain modalities of this immigration regulation.
In a parliamentary committee, Ms Fréchette recently raised the possibility of “sectoral” or “regional” approval.
In Quebec in particular, the number of non-permanent residents represents a bottleneck compared to the places available for permanent residency. Many people on temporary visas enter with the hope of obtaining permanent residency. This will make “two-tier” immigration the norm across the country.
In a press briefing, Minister Fréchette said she was “surprised by the magnitude of the new figures”. She called on Ottawa to review its migration goals accordingly. “It deserves reflection and awareness,” she said.
She regretted that despite the closure of Roxham Road, Quebec continues to receive “too large a share” of asylum applications in Canada. “That is why we call on the federal government to ensure fair reception between all provinces,” she said.
Eligibility thresholds generally refer to permanent immigration, as temporary categories have no destination in either the province or the country.
Even if they are not included in the multi-year planning, they are still an explicit part of Quebec’s strategy. The Department of Immigration, for example, notes in its 2022 plan that it wants to “support employers” to “increase the number” of temporary foreign workers.
The CAQ government also established its own foreign recruitment agency for the health sector. It has awarded several million dollars in financial support to various organizations to promote the recruitment of foreign students and temporary workers.
With François Carabin