Immigrant families already well integrated in Quebec are questioning their future here, with Ottawa intending to prevent spouses from working.
“We are here, we are settled, we have spent our savings, we have our life here, we pay our taxes and suddenly, they cut us off from everything,” laments Clément Vernetui, originally from Haute-Savoie in France.
This 32-year-old father decided to leave everything with his partner and their child by settling in Quebec in 2023, with which they fell in love during a trip seven years earlier.
“It took almost two years to do our papers and come here, and now the laws are changing and putting obstacles in our way,” he regrets, insisting that he does not want to return to France.
On January 21, Ottawa further tightened its immigration rules by modifying open work permit eligibility, as announced last September.
“Only spouses or common-law partners of certain foreign students and workers will be able to apply for an open family work permit,” indicates Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
The full list of eligible jobs will be released on January 21.
Basically, this document allowed a family member of a primary immigrant worker to hold virtually any job.
“Hecatomb”
For the immigration lawyer, Me Maxime Lapointe, this measure will hurt immigrant families because, in many cases, only one member of a family will have the right to work.
-“It’s a massacre within a massacre in immigration,” he says.
“People arrive with an immigration plan and the rules keep changing,” he continues.
Clément Vernetui, who is currently doing a DEP in construction machinery mechanics, fears that his partner, a pastry chef, will no longer be able to work following these changes.
“We think that our professions will not be in the selected categories, so we are waiting for the list to come out to see what we [fera ensuite]», explains the man who also has a job in his field.
Show the door
If Mr. Vernetui’s partner is not part of the employment categories selected, he fears that she will have to return to France with their 6-year-old son while she takes the necessary steps to be able to immigrate again to Quebec .
“We are going to be forced to make heartbreaking choices. We try to see possible solutions, but we don’t know what will happen,” he explains, lamenting that there are no acquired rights for immigrants who have already settled.
It is clear that with this measure, Canada is showing the way out to immigrants, even those already well integrated, notes Me Maxime Lapointe.
“We had to set up a crisis unit to see which of our clients will be able to stay, but we will not be able to save everyone,” warns the lawyer.
