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<\/p>\nM\u00f3nica Col\u00edn Silva and her husband want nothing more than to keep working in Quebec.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But nearly four years after settling in the province\u2019s capital, the couple was told they would have to leave their jobs immediately, having been rejected for a post-graduation work permit this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll my colleagues, my friends are in shock,\u201d Col\u00edn Silva said in an interview. \u201cNo one understands.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The family\u2019s move to Quebec City was years in the making. When Col\u00edn Silva discovered she was pregnant with her daughter, Victoria, she decided to leave Mexico in search of a better life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hear a lot about Canada, about its safety and how it\u2019s a welcoming country,\u201d Col\u00edn Silva said.<\/p>\n
Having studied physiotherapy, Col\u00edn Silva began a lengthy process of English and French qualifications, as well as prerequisite courses, in hopes of completing a master\u2019s degree in ergonomics at Universit\u00e9 Laval.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Having finally met those requirements in the fall of 2022, she moved to the city with her then 4-year-old daughter and husband, balancing her full-time studies with motherhood and work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was hard because it was a master\u2019s degree in a third language, on top of it. I speak English, I speak Spanish so to do a master\u2019s in French was a major challenge but I succeeded,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With her master\u2019s degree in hand last May, Col\u00ecn Silva said she finally had hope, after feeling pushed to her limit for years. While she couldn\u2019t find employment in her field, she began working in daycare services at two schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But her hopes of keeping her family in the country and continuing on her career path were quickly dashed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On Jan. 26, Col\u00ecn Silva found out her application for a post-graduation work permit was denied. Her immigration consultant informed her she and her husband, who had been working two jobs in the province, would have to stop working immediately and would soon have to return to Mexico.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In order to qualify for the permit, applicants need to pass four sections of a French exam. While Col\u00edn Silva succeeded in three of those sections, with more than the minimum score for each, she said she only managed to obtain 427 points on the written portion \u2014 the minimum score required is 428.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since the end of 2024, the federal government requires most applicants for a post-graduation work permit to provide proof of language test results.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While Col\u00edn Silva has the option of taking the exam again, she says it costs hundreds of dollars to complete and that is money she and her family cannot spare.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her family is currently struggling to find the means to pay their rent in Quebec City and to pay for plane tickets to return to Mexico.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey told me it would be better to leave the country and then to come back, but that\u2019s a lot of money. Without revenue, without work, I am really in distress,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While she understands the need for a language requirement, she wishes her family had been given more leeway to keep working in the interim and to prepare themselves to leave.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to speak poorly of a country that welcomed me, but I find this really inhumane,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s as though we are garbage.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
International students see doors closed<\/p>\n
Immigration Lawyer Maxime Lapointe says Col\u00edn Silva is far from the only one who feels she put everything on the line for nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since 2023, Lapointe said both levels of government have put in place a series of measures making it increasingly difficult to settle in the province.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe doors were slowly closed to [newcomers] overtime and it makes it so that there are now people here who no longer qualify,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When it comes to the recent French-language requirements for post-graduation work permits, Lapointe says this is one of the measures that hurt newcomers the most.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He says he sees a lot of clients who either submit the wrong type of exam or paperwork that goes along with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada did not respond to the CBC’s request for comment.<\/p>\n
WATCH | Quebec government insists new immigration program will work:<\/p>\n
Quebec to prioritize applicants outside Montreal under new permanent residency program<\/p>\n
Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Roberge, Quebec’s immigration minister, has come under fire after cutting an essential pathway to permanent residency in 2025, the Quebec Experience Program, also known by its French acronym PEQ. He’s attempting to calm the situation with a new program that will prioritize applicants working in specific fields, among other criteria.<\/p>\n
Joes\u00e9phine Claude Haba, an international student at Universit\u00e9 Laval and coordinator with the Association des \u00e9tudiantes et des \u00e9tudiants de Laval inscrits aux \u00e9tudes sup\u00e9rieures, said the regulations change so often it\u2019s hard to keep track.\u00a0<\/p>\n