Quebec premier says Ottawa should forcibly relocate half of asylum seekers

Quebec Premier Francois Legault responds to the Opposition during question period, Sept. 26, 2024 at the legislature in Quebec City. Legault says the federal government should require asylum seekers to move to other provinces, including those already living in Quebec. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot

Premier François Legault says the federal government should force asylum seekers arriving in Quebec to move to other provinces, including people who have already settled in the province.

Legault said during a trip to Paris on Wednesday that he wants half of the asylum seekers currently in Quebec to be transferred elsewhere in the country.

The premier says it doesn't make sense that Quebec receives about 45 per cent of would-be refugees in Canada, despite accounting for only 22 per cent of the population.

The federal government says it wants a fairer distribution of asylum seekers across the country, but the office of Immigration Minister Marc Miller says Ottawa won't force provinces to take in more people.

Ottawa is offering financial incentives to provinces that want to help and is threatening to reduce the number of economic immigrants for provinces that resist.

Legault said on Tuesday that his government has asked Ottawa to create waiting zones for asylum seekers entering the country, as is the practice in France.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2024.