Permanent residence | “We were sold a false dream”

They came here because they were promised permanent residence. But the Quebec government changed the rules of the game along the way. So much so that they now look at English Canada, with the feeling of having been cheated.

“We were sold a false dream. Finally, we take all the steps, we are good, we are well integrated. But at the last moment, we are told: we are changing the rules,” testifies Christopher Dinh-Tran, a French father based in Lévis.

“Be careful,” he said, “we’re not just numbers. You are jeopardizing life plans. »

“Today,” adds his wife, “the only possibility we have, basically, of staying in the territory is to change provinces. »

Christopher Dinh-Tran, 41, and Tiffany Corti, 36, arrived in Quebec in July 2023 with their two children, “not to leave”. He works as a security officer for Garda, in Quebec. His wife is an administrative agent.

On October 30, the Quebec government declared a moratorium until June 30, 2025 on two popular permanent immigration programs, including the Regular Skilled Worker Program (PRTQ), which has allowed 25,000 people to settle in the Quebec in 2023.

Since that day, the couple has not slept.

“Our work permits last until July 19, 2025,” explains M.^me Corti. In two weeks, we will never have a regularized situation to be able to stay on the territory. So, there, we are desperate to find a solution to stay in Quebec, to leave the province if necessary, but we do not want to return. »

“What more can we do?” »

These changes affect people who have started the immigration process in Quebec in multiple ways. Each situation is different, the rules that have changed are not the same from one case to another. The common point is the government’s 180-degree turn.

Delphine Goudry and her partner, Anthony Léger, also lost sleep.

“We are in a very complicated situation with my little family,” confides this 45-year-old French woman, who has lived here for more than three years with her husband and their three children aged 15, 12 and 9.

In his case, it is the Quebec selection certificate that is long overdue. This document is conditional on obtaining permanent residence in Canada. M^me Goudry made the request 11 months ago… and still no response. The problem is that his license expires on December 31.

“Our children are very well integrated,” she says. My husband opened a company in Quebec which has excellent annual turnover. I have a photography studio. I have customers, a good reputation. Finally, we have everything we need to be very well in Quebec, and there, we don’t know why, the file is blocked. »

People around them are stunned.

“Everyone tells us, no, but it’s not possible, you’re not going to leave. We feel like we’re not wanted. I don’t understand. We speak French, we have very good diplomas. Finally, we bring wealth to Quebec. What more do we need to do? »

A feeling of betrayal

Vialy Mendzet, 32, is also “blocked”.

In addition to the PRTQ, the government has frozen the Quebec Experience Program (PEQ), graduate component: the fast track for foreign students to become permanent residents.

According to Krishna Gagné, a lawyer specializing in immigration, “Quebec risks losing many international students trained here, who came as part of programs where they were given the promise of a future in Quebec.”

“It demonstrates a total failure of immigration planning and a lack of long-term vision,” she declares. We say: goodbye everyone! »

In Quebec since 2021, Vialy Mendzet completed a graduate degree in environmental law, then a master’s degree in the same field.

This Congolese feels betrayed by Quebec.

“The worst part is that if I had one more year of study, I could have understood. But there, I finished, I checked all the right boxes, I did everything I was told to do. Then, they tell me: what we told you, what we promised you, that’s not it, start from scratch, do what you want, find another solution. »

Mr. Mendzet is also considering leaving Quebec to go to another province, where efforts are being made to attract French-speaking immigrants.

“I ended up having plans B, C and D, even though plan A was clear,” he insists. Plan A was what I was promised, and that was not given to me. »

The anxiety of leaving

Sacha Perrin’s life plans in Quebec are also compromised.

On November 8, this 26-year-old Frenchman learned that his request to renew his work permit had been refused.

A psychologist in France, he has lived in Quebec for two years with his Quebec partner, Noémie Lemay.

But since November 8, he has no longer been able to work. And because his salary at Encre des Jeunes is $26 an hour, he falls under the freeze of another program, that of temporary foreign workers (PTET), in Montreal.

“For the moment, what is looming is that I will have to leave the country,” says Sacha Perrin, who deplores these changes.

“We settle down, we live our lives, because for me, my life is here, it’s in Canada, it’s not in France. And then, all of a sudden, in a few weeks, we realize that all our options are closing one by one and that we are going to have to go back. It’s extremely distressing. »

“It’s horror”

Caroline Fabbro, 38, also lives with the anxiety of having to leave.

A photography graduate in Montreal, she was preparing to apply for the PEQ-diplômé when this option disappeared with the imposition of the moratorium.

“I have my regular customers, I have had my life here for four years,” she insists. I have my apartment, I have my friends, I have my car, I have everything. And then, suddenly, it’s horror. How can we not consider people’s lives like that? It’s inhumane. »