Quebec cuts permanent immigration 45 per cent to 45,000 a year
Quebec will cut permanent immigration by roughly 45 per cent starting in 2026, reducing annual intake from more than 80,000 people to 45,000, the government confirmed this month in a multi-year orientation document. The overhaul ends the fast-track Programme de l'expérience québécoise, caps temporary foreign worker and international student permits, and imposes stricter French-language requirements on temporary workers.
The package amounts to one of the most restrictive immigration recalibrations any Canadian province has attempted in decades and sets Quebec on a different trajectory than Ottawa's national targets.
What the numbers say
Under the 2026-2029 orientation plan, the 45,000-person permanent target breaks down into 28,800 economic immigrants, 10,000 admissions under family reunification, 5,750 refugees and 450 others.
Temporary streams are also being capped. The province plans to hold temporary foreign worker permits at 65,000 by 2029, with 2026 targets between 40,400 and 55,700. International student permits are to be capped at 110,000 by 2029, with 2026 targets between 44,500 and 68,500.
The PEQ, which had offered graduates and skilled temporary workers a faster route to permanent residency, was eliminated effective November 2025, according to RCIC News.
French-language requirements tighten
Temporary foreign workers face new French-language thresholds to renew or extend permits. Employment lawyers at Littler note the requirements will affect sectors — including manufacturing, food processing and long-term care — that have relied heavily on workers whose first language is neither French nor English.
The Quebec government argues the changes are necessary to protect French as the common language and to relieve pressure on housing and public services. Critics, including business groups and federations of CEGEPs and universities, warn that labour shortages and tuition revenue shocks will follow.
Political timing
The plan arrives days after Christine Fréchette was sworn in as premier and as the CAQ heads into an October election trailing in the polls. Fréchette, a former immigration minister, personally shaped earlier iterations of the framework and has defended the cuts as a recalibration rather than a retreat.
"Quebec is setting the level of immigration that matches its capacity to welcome and integrate," the government said in its orientation document.
Federal officials have acknowledged Quebec's jurisdiction over selection of economic immigrants while noting that temporary streams interact with federal programs such as the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and the International Student Program.
What's next
Complementary measures and regulations are expected to follow through the spring. Employers that rely on the closing PEQ pathway are already scrambling to adjust recruitment, while universities are recalculating 2026-2027 enrolment forecasts. For more on the business impact, see our business and law coverage.
The political test will come at the ballot box. Polling shows immigration ranks among the top issues for Quebec voters, and the cuts give the CAQ a concrete answer to nationalist challengers while handing the Liberals a target on labour-market and demographic grounds.
