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History of Federal-Provincial
Relations in Immigration and
Integration
Presentation
by
Robert Vineberg
to a
Metropolis Seminar
February 16, 2009
Purpose
Illustrate 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

2
Structure

Prelude


Confederation


1967 to 1977
The Era of Consultation


1946 to 1966
Reawakening


WWI through WWII
Postwar


sorting out responsibilities in the first half century
Interval


pre-Confederation
1978 to 1985
The Era of Devolution and Regionalisation

1985 to the Present Day
3
Prelude

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)
4
Prelude
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 - 1

First 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
6
Confederation - 2

1871 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
7
Confederation - 3
BC 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
8
Interval - 1
WWI ends period of massive
immigration to the Canadian west
 Immigration offices in UK & Europe
closed & staff assigned to war effort
 Need 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 - 2

1928 – 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”
10
Interval - 3
The 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
11
Postwar - 1
Government 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 - 2

C&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
13
Postwar - 3
Led 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

14
Reawakening - 1
Economic recovery by the mid1960s 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
15
Reawakening - 2
Québec would assume lead in seeking
provincial involvement
 Quiet 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

16
Reawakening - 3
In 1968 Québec creates immigration
ministry
 Lang-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 - 4
In 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
18
Era of Consultation - 1
1976 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 - 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

20
Era of Consultation - 3
Cullen-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

21
Era 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

22
Devolution and Regionalisation - 1

1984 – Election of Mulroney
Conservatives


Immigration a key issue for Québec


Committed to “bringing Québec into
the Constitution”
Wanted Cullen-Couture enshrined in
any new Constitution
Immigration provisions includes in
Meech Lake Accord in 1987
23
Devolution and Regionalisation - 2
Meech Lake fails in 1990
 Federal 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
24
Devolution and Regionalisation - 3

Canada-Québec Accord signed by
Ministers McDougall & GagnonTremblay 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...
25
Devolution and Regionalisation - 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
26
Devolution and Regionalisation - 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
27
Devolution and Regionalisation - 6

Settlement 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
28
Devolution and Regionalisation - 7

Ontario 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.
29
Devolution and Regionalisation - 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
30
Ends and Means
History of FPT relations in Immigration
has been one of ebb and flow
 Provinces & territories now engaged
 New 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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