The “significant and unparalleled reform” of immigration which will require French from all newcomers, as the Prime Minister described it during the announcement, will be based in particular on tests entirely designed in France and defended for years.
Since at least 2014, on our pages, teachers, employers and immigrants alike – including a French truck driver who missed it – have taken to writing to challenge this assessment. They denounce the fact that not only are these exams poorly representative of Quebec French, but also that they call on non-linguistic skills, such as speed, talkativeness and European cultural references.
“We lose points for things that do not reflect our skills in French”, sums up linguist Elizabeth Allyn Smith. She herself had to pass one of the tests to immigrate here from the United States and be hired as a professor at UQAM. The duty was able to verify and better understand several of the criticisms made by also taking one of the French tests.
While the Francisation Québec one-stop shop was also launched on Monday, several players in this environment see it as a missed opportunity to create a 100% Québec test. Especially since this test has become since 2020 the only way to prove their proficiency in French for those who have not studied in this language in high school, or after, or are not members of a professional order in Quebec.
An immigrant who has taken all his francization courses up to intermediate level 7 required by Quebec would have already taken about 1400 hours of courses, but would still have to take the test. “It’s as if we were saying that our courses aren’t good enough,” says Céline Curtil, francization teacher in the Hautes-Laurentides.
The Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI) justifies this decision by “several reports” which led to calling people for interviews: “The majority of these people were not able to demonstrate the required level of competence”, we write to the Duty.
To the question of whether these certificates will be eligible again after the reforms recently announced with great fanfare, the MIFI sends us the list of the eight tests currently eligible.
Currently, it is mandatory to prove that you have a level 7 (out of 12) to become a permanent resident through one of the two main gateways for economic immigrants, the Quebec Experience Program (PEQ).
The other entry point, the Regular Skilled Worker Program (PRTQ), has been point-based until now. Knowledge of the language nevertheless gives many points in the analysis grid: the highest level is worth more than four years of professional experience or a doctorate.
However, about 12% of immigrants could do without this criterion to accumulate enough points. The government of François Legault will therefore make compulsory an intermediate level knowledge of oral and written, which will reinforce the importance of the test.
Reviews
Teacher Céline Curtil has the impression that francization teachers in Quebec have been “put out of business” in several respects. For example, they were not consulted in the design or revision of these tests designed by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris Île-de-France (CCI Paris) or France Éducation International (which comes under the Ministry of Education). French Education).
“I find it insulting that the expertise of Quebec education professionals is not recognized and that it is supplanted by these French organizations,” she adds.
Professor Elizabeth Allyn Smith also finds it “extremely bizarre” that we do not design a test in Quebec. “I think it’s a colonial mentality and borderline insulting. […] That we find the French of France even better these days than our French here, that’s what would pain me. I think that’s what the process currently reflects,” says the specialist.
“I think it’s ridiculous to give an exam on things they haven’t seen here. I don’t see any logic in that, it’s an aberration,” said a MIFI official who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.
The tests are the same for everyone, whether you are a worker in a plastics factory or an aerospace engineer. At present, the level required is also the same for all professions, which will soon be modulated, assures the government.
In the oral expression test, Mr.me Smith recalls having to phone the Louvre, then having to convince someone to go on a luxury cruise in Norway: “I had the right to say anything, but it depends on your imagination. . It’s in general communication skills, not language,” she explains. “It wasn’t showing up at RAMQ and walking out with a health insurance card,” she says by way of comparison.
You have to have a “good negotiator” side, a disposition to extroversion, and you have to have certain rather “Eurocentric” cultural references, she says.
However, these tests are not “trivial”, because it is “a whole life project” and “sometimes the family abroad who depends on their success” to move forward with immigration, says the immigration consultant Leslie Mbimbi.
“It’s not about knowledge, it’s about performance,” she says. The stress is very strong, many then having the impression of playing their destiny, explains this director of the Inside Immigration agency.
It costs $250 to $400 to take one of the qualifying tests, which is the equivalent of at least two days of minimum wage work. To this are sometimes added the expenses of transport and accommodation to go to approved centers, note Mme curtil.
“It’s a cost, but also a preparation that takes time,” explains Mr.me Mbimbi, on behalf of the immigrants who consult it. As with other immigration programs, she wants “accompaniment”, such as a commitment to francization, for example, rather than such an inadequate sesame.