Immigration consultant Timothy Morson speaks French as if it were his mother tongue. He is a Montrealer, has been declared bilingual and exempt from language testing for life by the federal public service, and he passed the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) exam with flying colors. But the Quebec Department of Immigration still demanded that he take one of the French tests designed entirely in France.
“It’s really absurd,” he said. “There is no logic in making me take a test that is not done here”, he specifies, especially since he is not a candidate for immigration, but rather a Canadian citizen who grew up in Quebec. And even more: on condition of being a member of a professional order, the OQLF exam that he passed would be accepted to file an application for permanent residence.
In December 2020, Mr. Morson passed all the tests imposed by the OQLF at the highest possible level. He thus obtains a certificate of knowledge to integrate the Order of approved human resources advisers. This is also the only examination accepted by professional orders.
Two months later, he had to show his credentials again, this time to obtain recognition as an immigration consultant. However, the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI) does not recognize the OQLF exam, which is deemed to be more difficult.
Mr. Morson is then referred to the list of accepted tests, all designed entirely and corrected in part by French authorities.
“Imagine my surprise when I learned that the MIFI refused to accept the results of the OQLF! “, he says today.
He therefore turned to the French Evaluation Test adapted for Quebec (TEFaQ), administered by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris Île-de-France. His findings on this test are similar to those of the Duty who took the same test recently: the accent is French, some answer choices are unnecessarily ambiguous, and success depends on a host of factors other than language proficiency.
What’s more, the OQLF test seemed to him “much more difficult” than the TEFaQ, in which he also obtained a very good level.
“The OQLF, a well-known and respected Quebec organization, already has a mandate to test the level of knowledge of French among professionals in Quebec. It has everything it takes to carry out this task,” observes this Montrealer. However, the MIFI seems to recognize this quality, since members of professional orders do not have to pass the tests in France.
One more “inconsistency”, denounces Mr. Morson. “Is it possible to take Quebec seriously on the question of French in such circumstances? he adds.
“Nonsense”
Tim Morson admits it’s probably “an anecdote”. He only completed his primary education in French and therefore could not present proof of three years of secondary or post-secondary education in that language. This is what forced him to take the OQLF exam in the first place to become a member of his professional order.
Nothing in the current regulations on immigration consultants, however, limits the list of tests that this department can recognize. It is in fact written in the regulations that the person must pass “one of the French examinations recognized by the Minister”, a rather broad definition. The precise list of these exams is rather recorded on the pages of instructions to consultants: it only contains tests entirely designed and corrected in part by two French authorities.
There would therefore be no need for a regulatory amendment to correct this “absurd irony”, according to Mr. Morson.
He says he is well placed to understand that the government must establish certain criteria, he who has worked within the federal apparatus, in particular as an immigration officer and consul abroad.
“I understand that large organizations need to find the easiest approach to administering the requirements. […] But there is always the risk, and this is what I see now with the MIFI, of becoming so restricted that we fall into nonsense. »
He concludes by calling for a certain “flexibility” in the application of policies, which takes into consideration their “spirit”. “I may have fallen into a crack, but my case clearly illustrates a problem within the Government of Quebec with regard to the question of French. »