“The real threat to the French language is all the Quebecers who are going to leave Quebec! » — Laurianne Lachapelle has been waiting for a year to be reunited with her Guatemalan husband.
The capping of targets in the family reunification category had the effect of a cold shower for families who have been waiting a long time to be reunited or who simply want to see their immigration procedures succeed. Exasperated by the long delays that promise to get longer due to the heavy list, some are considering moving to another Canadian province.
Of French origin, Amandine, who withholds her last name so as not to harm her efforts, has been waiting for 10 months for a response to the sponsorship application that her spouse, a Canadian citizen, submitted for her at the beginning of the year . “I am French-speaking, we live in Rimouski, we both work in the construction field. I’m even working on student residence projects that will help accommodate more people! » she told Duty. “When we think that in another province it would already be over, we look to leave Quebec and be able to come and go without pressure. »
Her father being very ill, Amandine would like to be able to have the freedom to leave for France if necessary and to return without risking border service agents refusing her entry to the country. “We were waiting to have the results of the immigration consultation, but now we are ready to try life elsewhere. »
Currently, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada provides for deadlines of 25 months for the sponsorship of a spouse who is on Quebec soil, and 27 months if this spouse who is destined for Quebec is outside the country . A dramatic jump considering those timelines were no longer than about a year earlier this summer, as reported The duty. Everywhere else in Canada, it now takes half as long, or about a year.
As of October 13, 2023, 38,400 people — of whom 9,000 are already here — were waiting to be admitted to Quebec, indicated the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration. As the rate of approximately 10,500 admissions per year remains unchanged, it will take approximately four years to obtain permanent residence. “We won’t wait four years, that’s for sure! » said Amandine, categorically.
A painful wait
The Frenchwoman nevertheless considers herself privileged to have an open license, to have access to RAMQ and to be at her partner’s side. Others are not so lucky, she admits.
This is the case of Laurianne Lachapelle, a Quebec accountant, who currently lives separated from her husband. Her three visitor visa applications for her Guatemalan lover were denied. “We’re going to try a fourth time,” she told Duty. Seeing the content of the immigration plan submitted by Quebec tabled last week, she no longer has hope that the pace of admissions will accelerate.
Last September, Mme Lachapelle delivered heartbreaking testimony to the National Assembly. She said she had to terminate a pregnancy for fear of having to give birth and care for a child without her husband.
“The real threat to the French language is all the Quebecers who are going to leave Quebec because we don’t want our families,” she said. Mme Lachapelle says he has taken steps to move to Ontario in 2024.
On social networks, many groups collect complaints about the slowness of the family reunification program. After a single call to everyone, The duty received in a few hours around ten testimonials from one of these groups devoted exclusively to people wishing to leave Quebec.
A building structure technician, Ahmed, who remains anonymous so as not to hinder his efforts, is definitely thinking of returning home to Morocco. He has been waiting for news of the sponsorship application he submitted for his wife for a year and a half. The height? His wife has just been refused a visitor visa. “I am a resident of Quebec, I pay my taxes here and I work in a field with shortages… I don’t understand,” he said, saying he was experiencing a lot of distress. “I regret coming here. »
Ontario, not the panacea
Not imposing a threshold for the family reunification category was a request from several organizations during consultations on immigration last September. The Quebec Association of Immigration Lawyers (AQAADI) also points out that Quebec does not have jurisdiction over this program, which falls under federal jurisdiction.
According to AQAADI, over time there has even been a semantic shift in the expression “immigration levels” contained in the Canada-Quebec Accord. The Quebec government now speaks of it as a maximum quota to be reached rather than as a “minimum threshold” of people to welcome. “At most, it must make realistic forecasts of the number of potential requests and take this into account in its planning,” argued Laurence Trempe, co-president of AQAADI.
The lawyer notes that not increasing the number of permanent residents in this category has a direct impact: families wait longer than those established outside Quebec. “By setting a threshold of 10,400, a low figure given our demographics, Quebec is responsible for the bottleneck and long delays at the federal level. The result is concrete: families who were thinking of returning to Quebec will opt for Canada. »
Me Trempe notes that it is particularly difficult for future permanent residents waiting abroad, because those who are on Quebec soil still have access to RAMQ and an open work permit. That said, moving to Ontario is not a panacea either, the lawyer believes. “In Quebec, unlike elsewhere in Canada, we do not ask to demonstrate financial capacity, we just have to make a commitment,” says M.e Dip. And moving to Ontario just to hope to reduce the delays and returning to Quebec afterwards, “that amounts to making false representations,” she adds.