History of Federal-Provincial Relations in

Immigration and Integration

Presentationby

Robert Vinebergto a

Metropolis SeminarFebruary 16, 2009

PurposePurposeIllustrate the long-standing

provincial involvement in immigration

Provide a survey from Confederation to the present day

Illustrate the various phases of the immigration relationship

Examine the legislative and working relationships between the two levels of government

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StructureStructurePrelude

pre-ConfederationConfederation

sorting out responsibilities in the first half century

Interval WWI through WWII

Postwar 1946 to 1966

Reawakening 1967 to 1977

The Era of Consultation 1978 to 1985

The Era of Devolution and Regionalisation 1985 to the Present Day

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PreludePrelude In each Province the Legislature may

take Laws in relation to Agriculture in the Province, and to Immigration into the Province; and it is hereby declared that the Parliament of Canada may from Time to Time make Laws in relation to Agriculture in all or any of the Provinces, and to Immigration into all or any of the Provinces; and any Law of the Legislature of a Province relative to Agriculture or to Immigration shall have effect in and for the Province as long and as far only as it is not repugnant to any Act of the Parliament of Canada. Section 95, Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly

British North America Act 1876)

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PreludePrelude

BNA Act provision not revolutionary

People and agriculture two key concerns.

In a new country too important to leave to one (untested) level of government

Colonial provinces experienced in the field

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Confederation - 1Confederation - 1First Federal-Provincial Conference on Immigration – October 30, 1868 To define spheres of action of the two levels of government

First FP Agreement on Immigration Dominion government to establish agencies

in London and on continent but provinces can retain their agents as well

Dominion government to administer quarantine stations at Grosse Isle, Halifax and Saint John

Conference to occur annually

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Confederation - 2Confederation - 21871 FP Conference also attended by new provinces of Manitoba and BC 1868 agreement updated Dominion government to commit to a “liberal policy for the settlement of Manitoba and the NWT”

1874 FP Conference acknowledged rivalry between federal and provincial agents detrimental Provincial agents to be sub-agents of Dominion immigration agents

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Confederation - 3Confederation - 3BC lobbying effort finally results in Chinese head tax in 1885

Next FP Conference nearly 20 years later – in 1892 – when immigration moved to Department of the Interior Major issue was provinces not paying rent for offices of sub-agents in Dominion offices

Apparently Ottawa never sent any bills and provinces were happy not to pay

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Interval - 1Interval - 1WWI ends period of massive

immigration to the Canadian westImmigration offices in UK & Europe

closed & staff assigned to war effortNeed for passenger vessels to return

servicemen after the war precluded mass immigration until spring of 1920

FP Conference on immigration publicity in 1920 but governments’ focus was reintegration of servicemen

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Interval - 2Interval - 21928 – Standing Committee on

Agriculture and Colonization review Recommends greater role for provinces in “placement, settlement and supervision” of immigrants

Recommends that Dominion government defray costs to the provinces

Observes selection must “rest solely and exclusively” with the Government of Canada”

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Interval - 3Interval - 3The Great Depression ended the revival of immigration in the 1920s

Provinces lose interest in face of other pressing issues Department of Mines and Resources submission to Rowell-Sirois Commission stated “no provincial organizations exist for any of this work”

Many provinces, especially Québec, lobby against Jewish immigration

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Postwar - 1Postwar - 1Government learned the lessons

from WWI demobilization and the return of troops did not lead to recession

People wanted to come to Canada and Canada wanted them

Government embraced “DPs” in propitiation of previous sins

First Department of C&I created in 1950 with mandate to expand operations to meet the demand

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Postwar - 2Postwar - 2C&I created without any apparent concern for role of provinces Requirement to consult with provinces but department interpreted it to apply only to settlement Welfare and hospitalization cost-sharing

agreements concluded in the 1950s

1952 Immigration Act drafted without serious consultation with the provinces

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Postwar - 3Postwar - 3Led by Ontario, Alberta and BC also

launch marketing efforts in UK and Europe for skilled trades

Hungarian Refugee Movement forced C&I to seek help from the provinces C&I offers to care for refugees for first year with provinces taking over afterwards

Immigration peaks in 1958 with Suez Crisis but then recession reduces immigration and provincial interest

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Reawakening - 1Reawakening - 1Economic recovery by the mid-1960s brought higher immigration levels (about 200,000/year)

Immigration White Paper in 1966 created more interest

Manpower and Immigration (M&I) Department created

Provinces getting more involved QC, ON, MB, SK and AB all have small provincial immigration bureaux

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Reawakening - 2Reawakening - 2Québec would assume lead in

seeking provincial involvementQuiet Revolution led to openness

to immigrants and decision to push feds to select more francophone immigrants

In 1965, Québec Immigration Service created in Ministry of Cultural Affairs Immigration seen as cultural tool to preserve a French Québec

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Reawakening - 3Reawakening - 3In 1968 Québec creates immigration

ministryLang-Cloutier Agreement in 1971

First modern federal-provincial agreement

Québec allowed to place officers abroad to counsel immigrants destined to Québec

Andras-Bienvenue Agreement in 1975 Required immigrants destined to Québec to see QIS officer

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Reawakening - 4Reawakening - 4In 1973, Minister Andras launched immigration review/Green Paper

Green Paper stated there is no constitutional bar to more active and widened collaboration between the central government and the provinces, the purpose being to make immigration policy more sensitive to the provinces' and territories’ requirements

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Era of Consultation - 1Era of Consultation - 11976 Immigration Act (in force 1978)

required consultation with provinces on levels and settlement and (s. 7)

provided for federal-provincial agreements (s. 109)

First provincial consultations in spring and summer of 1978 Ontario gave no opinion as it considered levels setting a federal prerogative

Resulted in 1979 levels of 100,000

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Era of Consultation - 2Era of Consultation - 2

But plans are only plans Southeast Asian Refugee Crisis In July, federal government announces it will take 50,000 refugees

In 1982, consultations expanded to include Yukon and NWT

Government determined to conclude s.109 agreements with more than just Québec

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Era of Consultation - 3Era of Consultation - 3Cullen-Couture Agreement (1978)

Real selection power for Québec Landing of an independent immigrant requires QIS approval

Clearly federal government wanted to demonstrate that federalism could work

Agreements with other provinces NS and SK signed at same time Not as substantial as the Québec agreement but important nonetheless

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Era of Consultation - 4Era of Consultation - 4

Over next year, agreements signed with Newfoundland, New Brunswick and PEI

Alberta signed agreement in 1985 but allowed it to lapse in 1990

Manitoba, BC and Ontario did not conclude agreements at this time

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Devolution and Devolution and Regionalisation - 1Regionalisation - 1

1984 – Election of Mulroney Conservatives Committed to “bringing Québec into the Constitution”

Immigration a key issue for Québec Wanted Cullen-Couture enshrined in any new Constitution

Immigration provisions includes in Meech Lake Accord in 1987

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Devolution and Devolution and Regionalisation - 2Regionalisation - 2

Meech Lake fails in 1990Federal Government decided to pursue a further round of Constitutional talks (Charlottetown) But also offers Québec chance to negotiate a new immigration agreement at the same time

Charlottetown Agreement rejected by national referendum

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Devolution and Devolution and Regionalisation - 3Regionalisation - 3

Canada-Québec Accord signed by Ministers McDougall & Gagnon-Tremblay in 1991 Confirms control over selection of independent immigrants

Federal withdrawal from settlement programs and funding transferred to Québec

Controversial funding formula – always goes up – cannot go down...

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Devolution and Devolution and Regionalisation - 4Regionalisation - 4

1990s - The Prairies are restless Concerned not getting their fair share

Movement led by Manitoba Seeks regionalization of immigration and Selection system that works for Manitoba

CIC did not want 10 Canada-Quebec agreements but needed to be responsive Developed Provincial Nominee concept Originally a pilot with a 1000 national

maximum

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Devolution and Devolution and Regionalisation - 5Regionalisation - 5

PNP was impetus for a new round of federal-provincial agreements First new agreement signed by Manitoba in October 1996

Framework agreement with annexes for PNP and Settlement Realignment

PNP annexes/agreements concluded: 1998: MB, SK and BC 1999: NB and NL 2001: PEI and YK 2002: AB and NS

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Devolution and Devolution and Regionalisation - 6Regionalisation - 6Settlement Realignment was driven by Federal Government’s Program Review $62.3M added to settlement budget as an incentive

MB and BC begin delivering settlement programs in 1999

But increasing anger with funding disparity with Québec QB funding increasing annually and no change everywhere else

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Devolution and Devolution and Regionalisation - 7Regionalisation - 7Ontario leads the charge and

includes settlement in multi-billion dollar “fiscal imbalance” argument In 2005 with an election approaching, Martin government put big $ on the table

First ever immigration agreement with Ontario concluded in November 2005 Almost $1B in settlement funding over 5

years

Surprise, surprise! Other provinces want the same deal.

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Devolution and Devolution and Regionalisation - 8Regionalisation - 8

Alberta and BC demand the same deal 2006 Federal budget goes part way with an increase of $77M

In 2008 an additional $121.6M created rough parity with Ontario and Québec

FPT Ministerial Meetings resume after almost a century Denis Coderre convened first in 2002 Now being held more or less annually

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Ends and MeansEnds and MeansHistory of FPT relations in

Immigration has been one of ebb and flow

Provinces & territories now engagedNew immigration agreements have no

expiry date recognized as a permanent element of managing immigration in Canada

Regime of consultation & cooperation not easy to manage but better for immigrants and better for Canada

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