A month after the Legault government announced the cap on the processing of family reunification applications, families are lamenting the additional stress that this decision adds to an already long and difficult process, according to testimonies collected by The duty.
“We feel abandoned,” says Nancy Bolduc, who is five months pregnant. Her partner, Ibrahim, lives in Morocco and is trying to immigrate to Canada. Last April, the couple submitted their application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
To begin the immigration process in family reunification cases, the person in Canada, called the “sponsor,” must submit an application to the IRCC. If this application is accepted, the sponsor can then begin the process of applying for an undertaking with the Quebec Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI). If the undertaking application is accepted, the MIFI issues a Quebec Selection Certificate (CSQ) to the person who wishes to be sponsored. The document is finally sent back to the federal government, which accepts or rejects the application for permanent residence according to the thresholds established by Quebec.
Every day of waiting is one less day with my partner
In 2022 and 2023, the Quebec government issued 30,000 CSQs. Last June, Quebec established that a maximum of 13,000 commitment applications would be processed between June 26, 2024 and June 25, 2026.
The Quebec government’s decision was made in order to reduce the disparity between the number of CSQs issued and the maximum threshold of 10,600 people per year who can obtain permanent residence in the family reunification category in Quebec. “This decision is part of the minister’s desire to enforce the planned admission targets in family reunification,” responded the Duty last June the office of Minister Christine Fréchette.
“It’s already long,” laments Nancy Bolduc. She is anticipating the next steps and is worried because if her application is submitted after the 13,000 application limit has been reached, her process will fall through. “Every day of waiting is one less day with my partner.”
Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller made it clear in the spring that he could ignore the 10,600 application threshold to approve all those who had obtained a CSQ and were waiting at the federal level because of the Quebec threshold. Reducing the number of CSQs issued would therefore reduce the number of applications “waiting” at the federal level.
Beyond the numbers, there are families waiting to be reunited
The imposition of this ceiling on processed applications is not well received by everyone. The official opposition’s critic for immigration, francization and integration, Liberal MP André A. Morin, considers that the proposed solution is “too little too late”. “What I was saying to the minister [Christine Fréchette]is: ‘Look at your pending files, give them priority and resolve those files first. Otherwise, you’re never going to get out of it.'”
He suggests going beyond the targets set by Quebec in its immigration plan and processing pending family reunification files as a priority over the next 24 months, even if it means offering more than 10,600 permanent residences per year, for two years.
In October 2023, the MIFI indicated that the number of people waiting to be admitted to Quebec was 38,400. For André A. Morin, it will not be possible to process as many applications with the current targets. “Reduce your waiting list, treat this as a priority,” he asks. “Beyond the numbers, there are families waiting to be reunited. Since the announcement, I have received dozens and dozens of letters at my constituency office from citizens who are shocked and saddened. It has devastating impacts on their lives.”
A race against time
“We wait until we officially have the status of common-law spouses to file a sponsorship, but the longer we wait, the worse our chances are,” says Kim Champoux, a Quebecer whose spouse is Mexican. In Quebec, you have to live together for twelve months before you are legally considered common-law spouses. The couple will obtain this title in August 2024.
It is a race against time for the partners, who hope that the threshold of 13,000 applications will not be reached before their file can be processed.
Even though he has teenage daughters from a previous relationship, Kim Champoux says he has to “consider leaving.” The waiting times for applications made in Quebec, which currently stand at 36 months for international applicants, combined with the uncertainty due to the new legislation, are pushing him and his partner, Ana Moreno, to consider moving to another province. “In Ontario, it would take 12 months from the time the application is filed,” he says.
The situations Nancy Bolduc and Kim Champoux are experiencing are very different, but they have one important thing in common. Both told us that the June announcement added a weight to their shoulders in an “already difficult” situation. “I just can’t wait for this to be resolved,” Champoux concluded.