Already threatened with prosecution for its management of delays in the family reunification category, François Legault’s government faces a new challenge in immigration. Also disappointed with the delays, Ottawa now intends to circumvent the thresholds imposed by Quebec.
The federal Minister of Immigration, Marc Miller, sent a letter to his Quebec counterpart, Christine Fréchette, to warn her of this. He writes there that officials from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will now process applications for family reunification even if the ceiling of 10,400 applied by Quebec for 2024 is exceeded.
The latest news, in December, the waiting time to settle permanently with loved ones in Quebec was 41 months. The 1991 Canada-Quebec Accord on immigration stipulates that the federal government processes applications for family reunification, but that Quebec can establish annual thresholds not to be exceeded.
Delays in processing applications, which Ottawa attributes to Quebec’s immigration ceilings, also caused Minister Fréchette to be sued in Superior Court last week. The applicant in this case, Kaba Keita, requests through his lawyer, Me Maxime Lapointe, that the immigration levels in the family reunification category be modified to allow faster processing of files.
Further details will follow.
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