Territoire et société

Québec has more powers in immigration policy than other provinces. Since the 1991 Canada–Québec Accord relating to Immigration and Temporary Admission of Aliens (the 1991 Agreement), it selects almost all categories of immigrants and manages a relatively important monetary contribution from Ottawa for their integration. How did Québec and Canada arrive at the favorable-for-Québec 1991 Agreement? Surveying the main actions that have comprised immigration policy in Québec and Canada from the 1960s until 1991, this article shows that the method for change was incrementalism and contributes to developing incrementalism as an applied theory of policymaking including proposing the conditions under which it is most likely to be relied on in immigration policy.