MONTREAL — Quebec’s immigration minister says newcomers to the province need to embrace the “common culture," as the government looks to put Quebec identity back at the forefront of the political agenda.
The Quebec government will table a new bill Thursday on the integration of immigrants, which will require newcomers to adhere to Quebec values like gender equality and secularism.
“We will be pretty clear. We are a nation, we have a culture, we have democratic values," Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge told reporters in Quebec City as the provincial legislature resumed Tuesday following the holiday break. "And people coming here must accept that."
Roberge said the bill aims to prevent "ghettoization" of immigrant communities by defining a social contract that will emphasize French as the official language of Quebec.
He said Quebec has never accepted the concept of Canadian multiculturalism, first outlined in a 1971 policy to promote cultural diversity and enshrined in law in 1988. Canada has not defined a common culture for the country, Roberge said, and Quebec prefers the idea of interculturalism, focused on integrating immigrants into Quebec culture.
Newcomers have a "moral duty" to adhere to Quebec culture, Roberge said, adding that there will be obligations laid out in the bill — mechanisms to ensure its principles are upheld, though he offered no details.
He said he wants immigrants to attend Quebec shows, films and celebrations. "We want diversity in Quebec, but we also want people to mix together," he said.
The new bill comes as the Coalition Avenir Québec government puts renewed emphasis on questions of identity and secularism. On Tuesday, Premier François Legault said he has tasked Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette with developing a Quebec constitution, following a recommendation from a committee appointed last year.
The government is also expected to table new legislation to strengthen secularism in schools, following investigations of 17 public schools due to claims of Muslim religious practices emerging in classrooms across the province. Last fall, a government report revealed a toxic climate at a Montreal primary school created by a group of teachers, many of North African descent. The findings made waves across Quebec, and allegations soon surfaced at other schools.
Legault has claimed that teachers are introducing “Islamist religious concepts" into the classroom. In December, he also said he would like to ban prayer in public places.
On Tuesday, Roberge mentioned the school investigations when asked why a new bill on integration is necessary. But he rejected the idea that his government, which has been trailing in the polls for more than a year, is falling back on nationalist sentiment to score political points.
Roberge pointed out that the CAQ tabled two other major identity-related bills — its secularism law and its overhaul of the French language law — when the government was leading in public opinion surveys. "Our values don't change according to the latest polls," he said.
But opposition leaders were quick to point out that many French classes for newcomers were cancelled across the province last fall due to lack of funding. The government has also paused funding for measures designed to help integrate immigrant students.
"The financial and political decisions of the CAQ over the past seven years, they speak for themselves," Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon told reporters. "I think they're very much oriented toward communications and political tactics."
Québec solidaire co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal said, "Mr. Roberge and the CAQ government always play the identity and nationalism card to distract from their real actions."
Roberge said Quebec is under strain from the volume of recent arrivals, and that the government plans to reduce the number of temporary immigrants in Quebec. He said he will release more details in the coming weeks about a plan to limit the number of international students in the province.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 28, 2025.
Maura Forrest, The Canadian Press