montrealgazette.com/news/Courcy+tables+immigration+overhaul+proposal/9522645/story.html
QUEBEC — In what appear to be the dying days of Quebec's 40th legislature, Immigration Minister Diane De Courcy presented her proposal on Tuesday to overhaul the province's 1968 Quebec Immigration Act.
Her proposal, modelled on the approach used in Australia and New Zealand, which has also inspired a proposed overhaul of Ottawa's immigration law, calls on prospective immigrants to make a “declaration of interest,” setting out their qualifications.
Quebec would then choose from among those expressing interest in moving to Quebec, placing their names in a bank of candidates.
Immigrants are evaluated on a first-come, first-served basis, the minister said, creating a backlog that stood at 100,000 candidates when she was named immigration minister after the Parti Québécois won the September 2012 election.
The backlog has been reduced to 80,000, De Courcy said, which is still too high, and means people seeking to immigrate to Quebec can spend up to five years waiting as they clear hurdles set by the province and the federal government.
With the new approach, the names of candidates who are being considered, would be processed in two years and if they are not accepted in that period, their names would be dropped, although they could apply again.
De Courcy said Quebec is a “very popular” destination for newcomers and the new approach will allow Quebec immigration officials to pick “the best of the best,” calling it a “win-win” approach.
The minister said even though Quebec has tightened its selection criteria recently, calling on applicants to write a text in French “almost without faults,” demand to immigrate to Quebec remains high.
Bill 71 would also establish three guiding principles for Quebec's immigration policy: “Francisation, integration and regionalization.”
Most immigrants head for Montreal, while Quebec's regions have been losing population, so De Courcy wants to steer 25 per cent of qualified newcomers to the regions. At present, 20 per cent of immigrants locate outside Montreal.
She explained the process would attract skilled immigrants, giving the example of an engineer specializing in electric transport, Premier Pauline Marois's pet project.
The integration process has already begun, with the preparation of candidates for the realities of Quebec before they arrive.
And De Courcy noted that the concept of francisation, integrating newcomers into Quebec's French majority, did not exist at the time the 1968 law was framed.
The minister has added $13.5 million to her budget to teach immigrants French, with more than 30,000 newcomers a year taking courses in their home countries and in Quebec.
An employer would signal an interest in someone with specific skills and immigration officials would consult their bank of candidates for a suitable candidate.
De Courcy said Quebec would continue to accept refugees and the reunification of families would still be possible.
Quebec accepts about 50,000 immigrants a year, with about 15,000 of them refugees or participants in family reunification. That leaves 35,000 economic immigrants.
But she said the practice of allowing people into Quebec, without matching their skills to the job market, has led to high unemployment among immigrants and people whose qualifications are not recognized, forcing them to take positions below their skill levels.
The minister said the same applies to native-born Quebecers who lack skills, saying the “first-come, first-served” approach created a “false opening,” high unemployment and social problems for immigrant families.
De Courcy let out a laugh when asked if she expected her Bill 71 to be adopted by June, before the National Assembly's summer recess.
therefore time to get CSQ after AOR = 80000/35000*365 days
With an early election a very likely, the minister said she hope
