Quebec says it will drop permanent immigration targets to as low as 25,000 per year

Quebec’s immigration minister says the government will drop its permanent immigration targets to as low as 25,000 people per year.

Jean-François Roberge says the government will study three scenarios of 25,000, 35,000 and 45,000 immigrants per year.

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Currently, Quebec is projected to accept about 64,000 permanent immigrants in 2025.

But Roberge says that needs to go down due to rising unemployment, increasing strain on housing and the challenges of protecting the French language.

Roberge says Quebec also wants Ottawa to reduce the number of temporary immigrants in the province under federally managed programs to 200,000 from more than 400,000.

The minister said the government will hold consultations on the changes before announcing its final 2026 to 2029 targets.