Quebec Immigration Minister Announces New Immigration Plan

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Quebec Immigration Minister Announces New
Immigration Plan
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Québec Immigration Minister Kathleen Weil
provided the framework of a new immigration
policy aimed at attracting immigrants to the
Canadian province who are more likely to succeed
in the provincial labour market. Ms. Weil stated
that this new plan, called 'Together, We Are
Québec' (or Ensemble, nous sommes le Québec),
will take into account changing labour trends and
streamline the immigration process. The new
policy is accompanied by a five-year action
strategy from 2016-2021. Another key aim of the
plan is to retain immigrants who are in Québec on
temporary visas as students or temporary workers.
"People have a lot of choices right now," said
Ms. Weil. "Many European countries and the U.S.
are interesting places to potential immigrants
and we want to do as well, or better, than our
competitors." Weil noted that the current
immigration system, in which it can take years
for a person to be approved to immigrate to
Québec, needs to be changed. "By the time
immigrants get here, the labour market has
changed."