Immigration to Quebec: these French pastry chefs could be forced to return to France

Two model employees of a bakery in Laval could well be forced to return to France because of the provincial and federal bureaucracies, to the great despair of their boss who fears having to go out of business.

“Qualified employees are not easy to find, especially in bakeries and pastry shops. There, I have two pearls, I don’t want to lose them,” pleads Élodie Alvarez, owner of La Mie Dorée, located at Marché 440 in Laval.

For almost two years, Camille Samson and Louise Ricolleau have worked full time in this business where they have become indispensable.

“When people spoke to me about Quebec, they told me that it was a place full of opportunities for pastry chefs-bakers, that we speak French and that we can bring our know-how,” remembers Camille Samson, 23 years old, arriving in 2023 with a young professional visa.

The one who has accumulated diplomas in pastry, chocolate and bakery immediately fell under the spell of La Belle Province and never wants to leave it.

Her fellow pastry chef, Louise, who arrived in 2022 with a working holiday permit (PVT), agrees.

“We want to stay here, we like living and working here,” she says.

Bureaucratic slowness

But for several months, the two young women and their boss have been trying to renew their visa, in vain.

“I requested an extension of my visa [au fédéral]but it was refused without any reason,” Camille Samson despairs, even though she met all the criteria.

The latter has also been waiting for 145 days for her Quebec Selection Certificate (CSQ), which is required to apply for permanent residence, even though Quebec assures by email that the average processing time is 116.5 days.

As a result, she will be obliged to return to France in March.

Louise Ricolleau also hopes to one day have her permanent residence. But with the change in the rules of the game in migration policy in Quebec, she also fears being forced to return to France next May.

This is because the Legault government has suspended new applications in several programs since October.

“With Élodie, in the meantime, we applied for a closed work permit in her company, but we have had no news [du fédéral] since July,” indicates the young woman, whose file is still being processed.

Incomprehensible

For Élodie Alvarez, the situation is incomprehensible.

“We have two young working women, who have never missed a day of work, who have never been unemployed, who speak French and who want to live here, but we don’t want to keep them,” exasperates – she said.

Although she prefers not to think about the fact that she might have to replace them, she says it is very difficult to find suitable employees.

“I receive CVs, but they don’t match what I’m looking for and when I tell them that you have to work on the weekend and that the day starts at 3 a.m., they don’t want to,” explains -She.

“If I lose my two production managers, I risk closing,” she fears.

At the time of writing, neither Quebec nor Ottawa responded to our questions.