More than a year after the opening of the special regularization program, many asylum seekers who worked in Quebec in the health sector during the first wave of the pandemic are impatient with the slowness in obtaining their permanent residence. Out of 2,275 files (representing 4,535 people) submitted since the start of the process, barely 28% have been finalized, according to the most recent data provided by Immigration Canada to the Duty. Most of the files (69%) have been approved, but are in the federal government’s camp, at the last stage of the process.
“It’s been over a year. It’s very long,” says the director of the Maison d’Haïti, Marjorie Villefranche. “It blocks at various levels. She points out that Quebec asylum seekers, often called “guardian angels”, must first pass the stage of obtaining a Quebec Selection Certificate (CSQ), which may explain the longer delays. long. “It doubles the time to get the papers,” she says. “When you look at what is happening in other provinces, more people have obtained their papers. »
Indeed, in Ontario, the province where the program was most popular, approximately 40% of the 3,385 files submitted (representing 8,110 people) were finalized. The vast majority of them are still awaiting a resolution. Across Canada, 5,930 applications were filed, and 2,050 (35%) resulted in permanent residence. With regard to files having received “approval in principle”, this proportion is however around 50%.
Based in Quebec, Doris Bissakonou is still awaiting permanent residency, having applied for the guardian angel program in March 2021. Originally from the Central African Republic, the 23-year-old applied for asylum in February 2020, just before the pandemic. don’t knock. “I worked as a beneficiary attendant, on the front line. I lent a helping hand while others were at home. I worked hard, often alone on my floor,” he said.
Deemed eligible for the program, Mr. Bissakonou completed the Quebec selection stage in less than two months and then submitted his file to the federal government for the final stage of permanent residency. But according to him, his file would have been suspended at the end of the summer, and he has not heard from him since. “I have no feedback, and my study permit has expired”, underlines the young man who considers himself “blocked”.
Generalized delay
According to Martin Savard, of the Center social d’aide aux immigrants (CSAI), there is a general delay in all categories of immigration applications, including for study permits and family reunification. “COVID has caused a big delay, and no one escapes it,” he notes. He points out that the reception of Afghan refugees since the end of last summer has also contributed to delaying the process.
“For the guardian angels, it’s always too long, because they’ve been waiting for several months. During this time, they continue to find themselves in a vulnerable situation,” notes Mr. Savard. In addition to putting an end to the anxiety, permanent residence will allow these people to return to school at a lower cost, to finish high school or to specialize in a field. “They will no longer have to apply for the renewal of their work permit. It will make their life easier,” he adds.
If the CSQ stage is completed in the majority of cases, several guardian angels are still waiting to be regularized by the federal government. “When we look at our files, I would say that it is 50-50 between those who are and those who are not. »
In the office of Immigration Minister Sean Fraser, they would like the processing to be faster, but they indicate that the delays would be within the norm compared to other immigration programs. Some asylum seekers may have provided incomplete records or may not have been able to provide proof that they are eligible for the program. According to the press officer, Émilie Simard, processing times also vary according to “the ease with which we can verify the information, the time required for the requester to respond […] and other factors”.
Delays also in Quebec?
According to the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI), the average processing time for the CSQ was approximately one and a half months (35 working days) as of December 17, a time considered reasonable by agencies and asylum seekers.
However, some people have been waiting for several months for this precious document to apply for the final stage of the programme. This is the case of Naomi Kakenza, beneficiary attendant in a CHSLD on the South Shore of the Montreal region, who has been waiting for her CSQ and that of her three children for five months. “Every time I called, they told me[sai]t that there is nothing missing[ait], but that the file has not yet been processed”, maintains this mother of Congolese origin. In mid-January, the MIFI reportedly informed her that it had been finalized. But she remains cautious. “I’m waiting to have it. »
Mme Kakenza says he feels some frustration at seeing that many colleagues already have their resident card in their pocket. Especially since she was one of the first to apply for the program in January 2021, a month after its official opening. “I have nothing in this country, here. I only have the work permit and I have been working like a restless robot since the beginning,” says this single mother who says she has always worked since she applied for asylum in Canada in January 2018. “I have to working double shifts almost every day to accommodate me and feed my children. »
Without commenting on specific cases, the MIFI recognizes that several requests are currently subject to “a longer examination period”, because they “required a more in-depth examination” or required “additional information “.