Congratulations to those getting DM, and best wishes for your landing process.
It looks so far that the theory was correct and the VO are working on Quebec applications at the beginning of the month... Hopefully, we will keep getting more updates all through next week at least.
Here is content of what I sent today by post to the local MP. I have obviously deleted some of my personal info. Hope the issue is taken seriously... (i included a bit about maybe become a citizen by 2019, which is when the next elections are, hoping that they might give the matter some importance since i cool be a potential voter)
"I am a resident in Villeray in the district of Papineau. I write to you concerning federal immigration processes faced by applicants wishing to settle in Quebec, such as myself as well as thousands of others each year from around the world.
I am grateful that Canada is planning for the future and opening its borders to skilled immigrants, as well as helping others for humanitarian reasons, such as the recent refugee intake. However, I wish to bring to your attention some of the concerns shared by many of us as applicants.
All applicants, regardless of province of destination must undergo the same basic federal application process, which includes background checks and medical exams. However, increasing processing times and delays have affected applicants wishing to settle in Quebec. In addition to requiring a Cértificat du Selection du Québec (which in itself can take months or years to obtain in some cases), applicants face longer processing times at the federal level, even though the process remains basically the same. I do believe that a system like Express Entry brings many advantages, and I also believe immigrants fitting the country’s needs should have access to a fast-track process, but this should not mean longer waiting times for other applicants, specially when applicants wishing to settle in Quebec have no other option or alternative program to do so. In fact, since I sent my application at the end of summer 2016, the official processing times shown by IRCC, as long as they were, have increased.
This situation is harmful for both the applicants and the province of Quebec. On one hand, applicants are faced with slow service and processing, which prevents us from planning accurately our final plans to settle in Canada. It is hard to make plans for the future when you don’t know if you are going to have to keep waiting for much longer, or if in the end the application will be rejected after months (or years) of waiting.
On the other hand, this also harms Quebec’s economy. I personally know potential applicants that are actually considering choosing other provinces simply because the immigration process is much slower and uncertain here…. And the feeling is spreading. It is understandable, inland applicants going through Express Entry are sometimes granted permanent residence in just a couple of months. After this amount of time, many of Quebec applicants do not even receive acknowledgment from IRCC that the applications were received.
I do not regret trying to settle in Quebec. I am happy to be able to live and work in the province and I have patiently waited for my application to be processed. In my specific case, I am waiting for a Canadian Embassy abroad to receive a document from the authorities in my home country. But I have shared my experience and thoughts with other applicants, and a feeling that keeps coming up is that of being left in the dark. We are not sure why processing times are going up. Is it because other applications are processed first? Are there insufficient resources? Are Quebec applicants being subjected to other screening processes?
I moved to Villeray last year, and I wish to be able to keep living here in the future, and I hope that my application will be accepted so that I can permanently settle here, and maybe even become a citizen by 2019 if all goes well.
I sincerely hope that you are able to help us bring this matter to the attention of the necessary authorities. With any luck, changes will be implemented to benefit current and future applicants, or at least so that more information will be available on how the applications are being processed and the reasons for delays (if any).
I appreciate your taking the time to read this and thank you in advance for your support in the matter.
Sincerely,"
! To help to release some of my tension, I carefully reviewed and studied the CIC timelines spreadsheet (VO Ottawa only)
