The Council of Europe is proud to announce the arrival of the Quebec Network of Municipalities on Immigration and Intercultural Relations (RÉMIRI) to the large family of the Intercultural Cities programme.

This is the first network of municipalities working in these fields to be recognised by the Intercultural Cities programme as a partner in the French-speaking and American world. The ICC programme and the members of the network would like to welcome, and particularly thank, the cities of Drummondville, Gatineau, Repentigny and Rimouski, which mobilised to join the Intercultural Cities programme as members of the Quebec network. They further thank the City of Montreal and the City of Sherbrooke - already members of the ICC international network - for their support throughout the process leading to this recognition.

Created in 2015, REMIRI is a network of expertise made up of municipal officials and strategic partners. It responds to a need for consultation and pursues its mission to support and accompany municipal stakeholders on issues related to immigration and intercultural relations. REMIRI works to achieve three objectives:

Build a space to facilitate the exchange and sharing of information specifically for municipal officials working on immigration and intercultural relations;

Document the issues, challenges and contributions of municipalities and develop tools to support them in taking better account of immigration and intercultural relations in their respective territories;

Highlight the expertise of municipal officials in immigration and intercultural relations in Quebec.

In July 2021, REMIRI had 13 member municipalities and five strategic partners, including the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration and the Union des municipalités du Québec.

REMIRI offers a space for exchange and collaboration to actors working in Quebec municipalities on issues related to immigration and intercultural relations. Since December 2021, it will also contribute to the development and implementation of the Council of Europe's Intercultural Cities programme in the region.