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Forget about immigrating to Quebec. It used to be relatively easy and straightforward to apply for the Quebec provincial program but not anymore. Try applying trough Alberta, Saskatchewan or Manitoba provinicial immigration programs.These are the provinces that have faster immigration programs and are actively looking to attract skilled immigrants. Quebec bureaucrats are busy with their language laws and the way they treat the new arrivals went from bad to worse in the recent years.
I came to Quebec through the provincial immigration program a while ago when everything was more relaxed and they were really pushing hard to attract immigrants. I stayed here because in my line of work Montreal still has most of the jobs in Canada. If I would have to go through the process now I would choose one of the central provinces just for the ease of process. Once in Canada after you get all the resident documents you can move wherever you want.
Excellent advice Kent ... Forget Quebec. Immigrants MUST speak French, and ideally they are expected to speak French at home, as if anyone would change their mother torque!
Excellent advice Kent ... Forget Quebec. Immigrants MUST speak French, and ideally they are expected to speak French at home, as if anyone would change their mother torque!
Ridiculous proclamation. Only 60% of immigrants that come to Montreal speak flluent french. 30% of Montreal families speak another language than french at home. I wonder how many gullible folks skipped out on one of North America's greatest cities due to ridiculous falsehoods such as yours.
Lifelong Montrealer.
EDIT: it's a well known fact among immigration applicants that Quebec is the choice back-door for entrance into Canada for French and English speakers alike. A few years later, they gain citizenship and move to another province.
"Ridiculous"? I suggest you update yourself by looking over the current objectives of the Marois gov't and the "handlers" to see what direction they are pushing their voters and the rest of us.
I wonder how many gullible folks skipped out on one of North America's greatest cities due to ridiculous falsehoods such as yours.
EDIT: it's a well known fact among immigration applicants that Quebec is the choice back-door for entrance into Canada for French and English speakers alike. A few years later, they gain citizenship and move to another province.
Where would these gullible folks have heard about these ridiculous falsehoods to the point they changed Quebec as their intended destination? and if they did manage to get to one of N.Americas greatest cities why would they then leave after getting their citizenship?
This is not an immigration forum and most of the people who post here are either born Canadian or long time residents. They can offer valuable information about life in different Canadian cities but less for somebody who is asking advise on how to pass through the immigration process.
It used to be relatively easy to get the "Certificat de selection du Quebec" - the official document issued by the provincial government granting resident status. It was faster and cheaper than going through the federal immigration process. The knowledge of French was a plus but not mandatory. This all changed few years ago when the potential immigrants have to pass a comprehensive French test before being admitted to Quebec.
Before most of the immigrants from Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia would come to Quebec without knowing French and once arrived here they would take up to ten months French classes and would get a small amount of money from the government during that time. It was I think around $500 per month. Today with the new requirements only people from the former French colonies qualify, they are pretty much the only ones having a good French knowledge to pass the test. This is not exactly printed as law if you go to the Quebec immigration web page but that's how the process is working.
For a potential immigrant who doesn't speak French it does not make any sense now to apply to Quebec. Very slim chances that he would be admitted. I think everybody agrees that Montreal is far more interesting city to live than Edmonton or Saskatoon but if you are an immigrant looking for a fast processing Quebec is no longer the place to be.
Where would these gullible folks have heard about these ridiculous falsehoods to the point they changed Quebec as their intended destination? and if they did manage to get to one of N.Americas greatest cities why would they then leave after getting their citizenship?
Wait a minute. There are plenty of reasons to want to leave and there are plenty of reasons not to. What I'm saying is it's not just the former. Gullible is having your heart set on going and then dropping the idea on the basis of 'language fears' or what have you.
If my response was a little but emphatic, it's because immigrants musn't speak french, i.e. it's not a requirement (like other poster asserted) and, while they (as in the party elected by 31% of Quebecers) wish you spoke French at home they wont and cant do anything about it.
Why would people want to leave? The language situation and the generally low wages. I wasn't beating around the bush, but in the same token - I live near the Ubisoft studios and see scores of happy, well-paid anglos all around me... they speak crap french.
Last edited by LEFTIMAGE; 11-02-2012 at 04:26 PM..
Hello. Thank you all for valuable information. The deal is that we already collected all required docs.
What comes to language - my wife has passed the French test and has B1-B2 level of TeFAQ test. She also has level 6 of English (IELTS). My level of English is 7. And I only have a certificate of completion of French language courses. We both have university level and my wife specialty is in the list of professions for Quebec. We have two kids. We're about to ship our docs to Montreal in couple of days.
How would you assess our chances now? Note: we did the on-line evaluation thing which gave us good passing score.
Look forward to hearing your feedback.
If your wife passed the language test than I would send the documents for Quebec, I think the delays between sending the initial documents and receiving the landing visa are around two years now if you go via Quebec immigration process. With a background in the oil industry I would certainly target Alberta, but you can go there after you get your Canadian resident visa and land in Quebec. One great advantage of Quebec is the subsidised daycare, if your kids are young it is something to consider. What some new immigrants do is: they land in Quebec, send their kids in the $7 daycares and do a couple of years of university to get a Canadian diploma. As an immigrant to Quebec you will pay the lowest university fees in North America and you can study in French or English (the language laws apply only to the 11 years of school not to university). Once you do all that and your kids start school if you still don't have a job that suits you in Quebec you can try moving to another province.
A good site to ask questions related to immigration in Quebec is www.immigrer.com. The site is in French and has lots of information about the delays, practical issues and so on. Don't be shy if your French is not as good as the people that are posting there (mostly immigrants from France, Belgium and other francophone countries) they are really helpful.
Hello. Thank you all for valuable information. The deal is that we already collected all required docs.
What comes to language - my wife has passed the French test and has B1-B2 level of TeFAQ test. She also has level 6 of English (IELTS). My level of English is 7. And I only have a certificate of completion of French language courses. We both have university level and my wife specialty is in the list of professions for Quebec. We have two kids. We're about to ship our docs to Montreal in couple of days.
How would you assess our chances now? Note: we did the on-line evaluation thing which gave us good passing score.
Look forward to hearing your feedback.
It sounds like you're going about it the right way. Since your online evaluation was good and your wife has the required French level, you can be reasonably confident. I'm an American who recently applied to immigrate to Quebec. My online evaluation was good, and I was granted my Quebec Selection Certificate. My TEFaQ score was B2-C1. My situation is a little different from yours though, because I got a bachelors in Quebec, and they have a policy where they speed you through the selection process if you graduated from one of their universities. Anyway, good luck!
If for some reason you don't get selected this time and you're willing to try longer routes, you can study there and then you're almost guaranteed in. I transfered other credits and studied at Concordia for 2 years to get a BA.
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