The Quebec government’s inability to reduce family reunification waiting lists could lead to a lawsuit in Superior Court. The Minister of Immigration, Christine Fréchette, received a formal notice on Tuesday which gives her 60 days to resolve the problem.
Signed by lawyer Maxime Lapointe, it also targets the federal Minister of Immigration, Marc Miller. As first reported by Radio-Canada, its signatory criticizes Quebec for having set admission rates too low in the family reunification category, which, according to him, slows down the processing of files by Ottawa.
It is the federal government that processes requests for family reunification. Quebec, for its part, has established a ceiling of some 10,000 immigrants in this category for the year 2024. Ottawa cannot exceed it.
However, last July, nearly 40,000 applicants were waiting for a response to join their loved ones in Quebec, which increased processing times to almost three years. “I have come to the conclusion that Quebec does not have the jurisdiction to set a threshold limit for files to be processed at the admission stage,” indicated the immigration law lawyer in an interview with The duty.
It therefore calls on the Ministry of Immigration, Francisation and Integration (MIFI) to “remove from its immigration plan any admission target in the family reunification category”. Otherwise, to put in place “a dynamic admission threshold which will allow at all times to respect the service standard” of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
The federal government is ordered, for its part, to process “without delay” the files already selected by the Quebec government.
“If he fails to act within 60 days hereof, the undersigned will undertake the necessary procedures,” writes Me Lapointe.
Further details will follow.