Jasvir Kumar sidhu said:
you are true.I have no any option except Québec because I do not fulfill other system requirements. So this is last opportunity for me.let's pray for csq.
Thousands of Canadian immigration applications may be
affected by court decision
(Cliquez ici pour la version française)
The Superior Court of Quebec has arrived at a decision in
the case of Stasenko v. MICC et al , which challenged the
government of Quebec’s decision to apply changes to the
Quebec Skilled Worker Program’s (QSWP) eligibility criteria
retroactively, having previously promised applicants that
their application would be processed based on regulations in
effect when it was submitted.
Legal proceedings were initiated by the law firms of
Campbell Cohen (David Cohen) and Irving Mitchell
Kalichman (Mathieu Bouchard) in an effort to prevent the
government of Quebec from applying new immigration
regulations retroactively. The decision centred on the
principle of promissory estoppel — the legal principle that a
promise is enforceable by law when the promisor (person
making the promise) makes a promise to the promisee
(person being promised) who relies on it to his or her
detriment.
This important decision represents a victory for thousands
of applicants whose applications for immigration to Canada
under the QSWP may have been affected by regulations
introduced by the government of Quebec that came into
effect on August 1, 2013.
The background
In February, 2012, Quebec released a document checklist for
the QSWP. No such checklist existed before this date. A key
sentence of this checklist stated ‘your application for a
selection certificate will be processed based on regulations in
effect when it was submitted.’ This sentence was removed
from the checklist in May, 2013.
The QSWP is a points-based Canadian immigration
program. Candidates are assessed according to various
selection factors, such as language ability and level of
education, and awarded a certain number of points based
on these factors.
The government of Quebec enacted new regulations that
came into effect on August 1st, 2013, the combined effect of
which significantly changed the way points are calculated
under the QSWP. Among the changes made to the points
system were changes to how points were to be awarded for
language ability. Whereas previously applicants could be
awarded points according to their language ability, even if
their abilities were basic or intermediate, the new regulations
determined that points for language ability could only now
be awarded if the applicant could prove an advanced-
intermediate ability.
These regulations were applied retroactively to all
applications where preliminary processing had not yet
begun, meaning that these applications would be assessed
according to the new points system, despite the promise
made to applicants that their application for a selection
certificate would be processed based on regulations in effect
when it was submitted.
By the end of June, 2013, there were more than 50,000
affected applications for a selection certificate under the
QSWP that had been received by the government of Quebec.
Many of these applications had been submitted while the
terms of the original checklist were in effect.
The only transitional measure put in place was to allow
applicants who had submitted their applications between
July 8 and August 16, 2013 to withdraw their application
voluntarily and obtain a refund.
The case
A case against the government of Quebec was brought by
an applicant who submitted an application for immigration
to Quebec through the QSWP on April 9, 2013. The
applicant, a Russian citizen, was a client of the Campbell
Cohen law firm, with Attorney David Cohen as her legal
representative. Her file was opened on June 20, 2013, and
the Minister notified receipt of her processing fees, which
came to CAD $910.
The changes made to the language proficiency
requirements, which came into effect on August 1, 2013,
meant that the applicant was unlikely to be eligible when it
came to the preliminary processing stage of her application.
Under the points system in place when her application was
submitted, her chances of being assessed positively and
being called for an interview by the government of Quebec
were excellent.
On April 21, 2014, the Superior Court of Quebec made a
decision in favour of the plaintiff and ruled against the
government of Quebec. The government of Quebec has 30
days to appeal the decision.
What this means for applicants
At this time, it remains to be seen if it is only those
applications that were submitted while the original
document checklist was in effect with the key sentence ‘ your
application for a selection certificate will be processed based on
regulations in effect when it was submitted’ that may benefit
from this decision. These applications would need to have
been submitted between February, 2012 and April 2013,
inclusive, and not yet have reached preliminary processing
by the time the updated regulations came into force.
If these applicants wish to have their case for a selection
certificate through the QSWP reassessed based on the
points system in effect at the time of submission, they may
be able to do so as a result of this case. A broader
interpretation of the ruling could affect a greater number of
applications submitted before February, 2012.
“In any event, this case is likely to have affected thousands
of applicants who, in my view, were wrongly denied the
chance to have their applications for immigration assessed
with fairness. That is why I was proud to be co-counsel in
the legal efforts against the government’s decision,” says
Attorney David Cohen.
“One would have thought that only those applicants who
applied on or after August 1, 2013 would have been subject
to the changes, but this was not the case. Changes were
applied retroactively to candidates who applied, in good
faith, months beforehand, under the impression that their
application would be processed based on regulations in
effect at the time of submission, as per the document
checklist for the program.
“With a favourable decision based on the principle of
promissory estoppel , these applicants may yet be able to
realise their Canadian immigration aspirations through the
Quebec Skilled Worker Program.”
To find out if you are eligible for the Quebec Skilled Worker
Program, or any of Canada’s over 60 immigration programs,
please fill out a free assessment today.
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