How a form error deprives a teacher of teaching

Marion Lombard arrived in La Belle Province in August 2024 with her family, made up of her partner Louis Saint-Pierre, a Canadian citizen who grew up in Chicoutimi and lived in France for more than 20 years, and their three children.

They left the Old Continent to join relatives of Mr. Saint-Pierre in Estrie.

Their decision was also motivated by the fact that there is a shortage of teachers here. “There were a lot of possibilities for me,” emphasizes Ms. Lombard, who reoriented her career in 2018 after having been a lawyer for several years.

The teacher even claims that a school principal in Sherbrooke offered her a job opportunity at the end of January.

This family had not imagined the difficulties that Ms. Lombard would encounter in having the right to teach in Quebec, even though she has been married to a Canadian for 15 years.

Before going to this side of the Atlantic, Marion Lombard applied for permanent residence. This process is ongoing. While waiting for this request to be processed, she applied for a temporary work permit opened at the end of August, now the only missing element to allow her to teach.

The couple went to Service Canada offices to get information, but they were directed to the web. “Immediately, we are told that everything concerning immigration does not happen there,” says Louis Saint-Pierre. But it doesn’t happen anywhere physically. I find it special. I didn’t experience that in France, even if it wasn’t glorious.”

Form error and lack of support

To everyone’s surprise, in December 2024, the family learned that the permit application had been refused. A wave of panic set in. All steps followed to understand the reasons for the refusal.

When completing the application to obtain an open work permit as a sponsored common-law spouse in Canada, Ms. Lombard and Mr. Saint-Pierre explain that a tree structure directed them directly to a web page for people with a spouse with an H-1B visa, which would be specific to the United States.

However, “we discovered it well after, it’s a priori a specific visa for the United States, notes Mr. Saint-Pierre. We didn’t know it at the time.”

“When we filled this out, we naively said to ourselves that we were going to explain that the H-1B visa does not apply to us because she is the spouse of a Canadian citizen, so she does not need visa.”

The use of the wrong form therefore seems to be the cause of the misfortunes of this family, who feel they are not supported by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

However, the couple does not know what they could have done differently, and deplores the dematerialization of the immigration system. “We have the impression that if it had been a human who had taken the file at the beginning, there would have been no refusal letter.”

“The idea of ​​dematerializing at all costs, unfortunately, we realize that it creates situations that are a bit [aberrantes].»

— Louis Saint-Pierre

Since the refusal, the family has contacted IRCC numerous times. Despite discussions to try to find the right passageway, the couple claims to be redirected to an error page, even after following the instructions to the letter.

“All alone on the Internet, you can’t get by. On the phone, with the people from IRCC, we can’t get through it. With political contact, things are moving forward, but that doesn’t provide a solution. […] We told ourselves we were going to go see an agent. The way is to go out to the United States and come back,” explains Louis Saint-Pierre

So it was on December 24 that she went “around the post” at the Canadian-American border. Their meeting with an immigration agent produced nothing concrete, according to them.

“Turning the post” occurs when a temporary resident leaves Canada and, following a passage either in the United States or Saint Pierre and Miquelon, returns to the country to access immigration services at the border.

This practice no longer allows temporary residents to renew their work or study permits since December 23 at 11:59 p.m.

TECFÉE in your pocket

Determined to become a teacher in La Belle Province, Ms. Lombard also took steps at the same time with the Ministry of Education to have her skills recognized.

The MEQ issued him a probationary teaching permit conditional on passing the Written French Certification Test for Teaching (TECFÉE) and obtaining a work permit.

She passed the TECFÉE.

A forced return to France?

If the mother is not able to work, only one option will be available to the whole family during the spring assessment: returning to France, especially given the processing time for an application for a work permit. work was 156 days as of December 31, which leads into June, the end of the school year.

Marion Lombard submitted a new application for an open work permit at the beginning of January.

She hopes her request will be put on the fast track.

“If there is no accelerated treatment, it will have been a good year, but it will stop there, I think,” notes Mr. St-Pierre. It’s going to hurt me not to have had the opportunity [de rester au Québec] and being blocked for that. It’s really going to be a pocket sized one.”

The Lombard-Saint-Pierre family ensures that it is in communication with MPs Marie-Claude Bibeau and Élizabeth Brière.

In a written statement, Compton-Stanstead MP Marie-Claude Bibeau explains that immigration rules are “strict and clear.”

“Whether it is a request for sponsorship, family reunification, asylum, work permit, study permit or other, it is imperative to enter through the right door, to complete the correct forms and meet deadlines. It would be inappropriate for me to comment on the case of the Lombard-Saint-Pierre family specifically. She was, however, informed of the status of her case and the steps to follow,” she underlines.