The number of families waiting for a decision on family reunification continues to grow in Quebec, due to the quotas imposed by the Legault government in this immigration category. As of 1er February, it reached a record 43,400, according to data provided to The Press by the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration.
This is an increase of 13% in just six months. And the more people there are waiting, the longer the delays become.
“I feel like crying,” says Jean-Éric Tremblay, a 62-year-old retired teacher who married a Brazilian.
That does not make any sense. We’re talking about people who love each other. Of married people, of parents, of grandparents.
Jean-Éric Tremblay
The sponsorship application was submitted in August 2022. Her husband, Evaldo Gonçalves, 51, received his Quebec selection certificate (CSQ), four months later, in January 2023. The CSQ is this document that paves the way to permanent residence.
“I understood that a CSQ meant: OK, you are selected, you have reached the goal,” explains Mr. Tremblay.
But this is not the case. Of the 43,400 Quebec families waiting, 20,500 have obtained their CSQ. And like those of these families, Mr. Tremblay’s sponsorship application, a year later, is at a standstill.
Applications pile up because there are more than available places. The Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration has established a quota of 10,400 admissions, in 2024, in this immigration category, which falls under federal jurisdiction.
To reduce the inventory and delays, the federal Minister of Immigration, Marc Miller, also threatened to override this quota, in a letter sent on March 3 to his Quebec counterpart, Christine Fréchette. “Minister Miller’s directive is a direct affront to Quebec’s areas of jurisdiction,” replied Mr.me Frechette.
While waiting for a solution, on which the minister says she is working, processing times are stretching out. They are 30 months for the sponsorship of a spouse living abroad, in Quebec. In other provinces: 12 months. For a spouse living in the country, they are 25 months. Outside Quebec: 9 months.
In the meantime, Evaldo Gonçalves obtained a visitor visa. He plans to come to Quebec for the first time on April 2. It’s better than nothing, the couple agree. “But it is not ideal because he will not have his work permit,” underlines Mr. Tremblay. If he had his permanent residence right away, he could work. But there, you will have to wait three weeks, a month, three months, four months, to get the work permit. »
“I understand that there are immigration thresholds,” adds the Montérégie resident. “But it is certain that, in the case of family reunifications, I think that the government should find a solution to empty this list and find a way to ensure that there is not such a long list which is creates. »
Society is changing
Cynthia Bélanger, 48, is of the same opinion. She is trying to sponsor her Cuban husband, Eduardo Garcia Santana, a graduate in computer science and languages, also 48 years old. The CSQ was issued in March 2023. But since then, the file has not moved forward.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY CYNTHIA BÉLANGER
Cynthia Bélanger, Eduardo Garcia Santana and their little family, in Cuba, on their wedding day
“We hear Minister Fréchette say that the thresholds are the same as 10 years ago and that the government has never had a problem with family reunification,” said Ms.me Bélanger.
She would have to understand, Mme Fréchette, that the company has evolved over the past 10 years. We travel more, we find love outside, we welcome more immigrants too. So, it is certain that there are Quebecers who fall in love with someone of another nationality, who must be sponsored internally.
Cynthia Bélanger
“It’s certain that the thresholds don’t work,” adds M.me Bélanger. And what doesn’t work for me, to be quite frank, is seeing the Quebec government going around the world to recruit, in Mexico, Brazil, France. The minister will recruit workers abroad and allow them to come and settle here with their families within six months. »
“What chaos! »
This situation also shocks Josée Chabot, IT director, whose son married a Vietnamese woman.
“I recruit people abroad who have the same profile as my son, a computer engineer, because we lack them in Quebec,” emphasizes M.me Sculpin. “We tell them: ‘Come and bring your family.’ The last one I recruited arrived with three children and his pregnant wife, who gave birth here. »
“We tell them: ‘Come. You, we allow you to come with your family.” But my son cannot have his partner. Does he have to apply for a work visa to have the right to live here with his wife? It’s ridiculous ! There is inconsistency in the management of immigration. We have hope with the exit of Mr. Miller. But, at the same time, I say to myself: my dear, what chaos! That doesn’t make any sense! »
Three times more elsewhere in Canada
Comparison with other provinces is difficult because the rest of Canada welcomes many more immigrants than Quebec in relation to its population. This affects all immigration categories. In addition, Canada does not impose a maximum threshold on the number of families eligible for sponsorship. As a result, in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta, the three other large provinces where there are many immigrants, the number of spouses received as permanent residents is approximately three times higher than in Quebec, in proportion to the population. population, according to Immigration Canada data.
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- 275
- Number of sponsored spouses who obtained permanent residence in Quebec, in January. This number was 1215 in January 2023.
Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
- 10,290
- Total number of sponsored families in Quebec, in 2023, including children, spouses, extended family members, parents and grandparents.
Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada