A symposium on the memory of Moroccan immigration to Quebec was organized on Tuesday in Rabat, at the initiative of the National Library of the Kingdom of Morocco (BNRM) and the Office of Quebec (Canada) in Rabat. This event aims to lead a dialogue on the question of Moroccan immigration to the French-speaking Canadian province and to create a space for exchanges, reflections and sharing of knowledge and experiences.
The conference also aims to lay the foundations for reflection on ways to improve public policies and celebrate examples of success and living together. In a statement to MAP, Alain Olivier, Director of the Quebec Office in Rabat, expressed the desire of the Office and the BNRM to take a scientific and objective look at the phenomenon of migration between Quebec and Morocco, by making use of quantitative and qualitative data relating in particular to the economic and sociological aspects of migration. “This symposium is an opportunity to collect testimonies from members of civil society, to lay bare the realities experienced by Moroccan immigrants in Quebec and to draw lessons from them with a view to improving public policies and filling possible shortcomings in the system,” he explained.
For his part, Mohamed El Ferrane, Director of the BNRM, noted that the History of Morocco has been marked by the phenomenon of migration, which has enabled it to become a society open to the world, rich and strong thanks to its diversity and its plural identity. “Migration represents a strategic bet for Morocco”, he underlined, in his opening remarks of this meeting, adding that it has become imperative to apprehend it in its entirety and to make it a lever. development in line with the vision of the New Development Model.
In this sense, Professors Rakia Laroui (University of Quebec at Rimouski), Stéphanie Garneau (University of Ottawa), Mohamed Benyahya (Mohammed V University of Rabat) and Mehdi Mounchid (Hassan II University of Casablanca) gave a broad overview of the legal, sociological, identity and educational dimensions of this immigration. For their part, Mohamed Khallad (Muslim Institute of Montreal) and Mohamed Charradi (Young Moroccan Chamber of Commerce of Quebec) gave testimonies on the experience of the social and economic integration of the Moroccan community in Quebec.
The Quebec population of Moroccan origin amounts to more than 100,000 people. Dating from the middle of the 20th century, this migration began with the installation of a Sephardic Jewish community in Quebec, then with the immigration of a Moroccan community of Muslim faith from the 1980s.
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