Civic Integration in a Multi-National Context: Examining Québec’s “Values Test” for New Immigrants

Abstract

On January 1st, 2020, the majority French-speaking Canadian province of Québec implemented a “values test” for prospective immigrants. Subject to virulent partisan debate for months prior to its introduction, the “test” is mandatory for many newcomers, and probes their views on secularism, same-sex marriage, gender (in)equality, religious symbols, and aspects of Québécois culture. The circumstances surrounding Québec’s new “values test” point to two fruitful avenues for research on civic integration policy. First, most such research focuses on policies developed by Western European nation-states. The Québec case invites new comparative questions. Whether and how the process of defining civic belonging is differing in countries — like Canada — where regional governments seeking to regulate immigrant selection and incorporation must navigate federal institutional and discursive structures? Second, although not entirely unique, the direct reference to “values” in Québec’s new policy demonstrates that, despite so often being framed by their political advocates as advancing a “liberal” commitment to “rights”, civic integration tests are becoming venues for the explicit promotion of “thick” and exclusionary notions of national identity. Based on a qualitative analysis of the parliamentary debates leading up to Québec’s “values test”, this paper unpacks the implications of this case for assessing the determinants and effects of civic integration policy in and beyond Europe.