“In a hurry, we put everything up for sale.”
— Sophie Granet, co-owner of Tartes et clafoutis
The business, the house, the car, everything is sold, returned, or in the process of being sold.
“If there is no buyer, it will be one less business in Granby,” she says.
Why this urgency, when the holiday season is more synonymous with Christmas logs and significant turnover?
The fault is the renewal of their work permits, which they were refused.
One-way tickets to France
The owners of the business had an appointment to renew their immigration papers on December 2 at the Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle border crossing.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) employee they met refused to renew their work permits. And this, after more than 10 hours of discussions.
“For me it was a simple formality, our file seemed complete. It turned into a nightmare.”
— Sophie Granet
He let them go after they both bought one-way plane tickets to France. Planned departure: January 2, 2025, in just over two weeks.
“The damage is done”
The CBSA justifies its refusal by the fact that the owners of the bakery continued to work even though their two permits had expired.
“Working while a request is processed is a status that exists,” she emphasizes. When we don’t change anything about our situation during treatment, we can [en principe] to work. But the agent [de l’ASFC] didn’t see it from that angle. And there’s nothing we can do.”
According to her, their license renewal requests were sent before their licenses expired.
“Anyway, it won’t be a Christmas like any other. As we are no longer allowed to work, the team manages what it can manage. The damage is done.”
— Sophie Granet
Trade is currently running at 40% of its usual volume.
“The company cannot operate without my husband in production and without me in sales. It’s complicated to replace 100 hours a week twice,” she says.
MP Andréanne Larouche as a last resort
Ms. Granet seems both resigned and “angry with the system.”
However, she and her husband seemed to be well on their way to successfully immigrating to Granby and Quebec.
They had just received, just a few weeks ago, their acceptance certificate from Quebec as well as their “labor market impact study”, two important steps prior to their application for permanent residence.
“There’s no point making noise, our fate is sealed,” she believes.
If the hope of turning things around is slim, “our federal MP is our only hope,” says the woman who bought Tartes et clafoutis with her husband in spring 2021.
“We are doing everything in our power to try to find a solution that will justify the renewal of their work permits,” assures Andréanne Larouche, Member of Parliament for Shefford.
At the MP’s constituency office, director Ruth Potvin is convinced that it is “an imbroglio and that no one is acting in bad faith in this matter.”
“Many calls”
MP Larouche’s office specifies that it is in communication with the office of the Minister of Immigration, Marc Miller.
Discussions are planned between the two offices, at the beginning of next week, regarding the file of Ms. Granet and Mr. Lévêque.
“It’s a dramatic situation given the life they had imagined leading here,” recognizes Ms. Potvin. We will make numerous calls to try to find a solution.”
The owners have two daughters, the youngest being in the 4th year of primary school. She will have to continue her education elsewhere in France.
The oldest, now 21, had previously left Granby CEGEP and Quebec a few years ago.
Because… of an immigration problem relating to his study permit.
Ms. Granet and Mr. Lévêque plan to close shop on December 24.
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