Montreal urges CAQ to grant exemptions following end of PEQ immigration program | CBC

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The end of a popular immigration program in Quebec has caused anger and fear among countless newcomers.

Now, the City of Montreal is taking a stance — through a joint declaration by Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada and interim Projet Montréal leader Ericka Alneus.

They are calling for the Quebec government to grant exemptions and allow immigrants who are already established in the province to apply to the now-discontinued Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ).

The program served as a fast-track to permanent residency for newcomers.

The Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government scrapped the program last November. So far, it has refused to grant exemptions and allow people who were already living in the province when it was discontinued to apply through it.

Ericka Alneus, seen here shortly after being elected as a city councillor for the first time in 2017, is calling for PEQ exemptions to be granted, alongside Montreal's mayor. — Ericka Alneus, seen here shortly after being elected as a city councillor for the first time in 2017, is calling for PEQ exemptions to be granted, alongside Montreal’s mayor. (Ivanoh Demers/Radio-Canada)

The joint declaration by Martinez Ferrada and Alneus will be formally presented at city council next Monday.

It calls for the Quebec government to “put in place, without delay, an acquired rights clause for people already established in Quebec with temporary immigration permits at the time the PEQ was abolished.”

It also calls for the province to ensure “predictable, human and coherent” pathways to permanent residency for people who are already “integrated and established” in Montreal.

The declaration also states that this request will be sent formally to the province’s Immigration Ministry and the National Assembly.

In a Thursday afternoon interview on CBC’s Breakaway, Martinez Ferrada said losing the PEQ progam, without any exemptions allowed “would be a catastrophe for our city.”

“We would be losing a lot of people, labour forces and people that in many, many cases actually speak French,” she said.

In recent months, a long list of newcomers whose future in the province is now in flux have spoken out through several news outlets about the province’s unwillingness to grant exemptions.

They’ve described the feeling of being betrayed by the Quebec government.

WATCH | A Montreal bakery risks losing many employees due to end of PEQ:

Businesses at risk of losing staff after Quebec slashes program for permanent residency

Quebec’s decision to slash a pathway to permanent residency is being felt by some businesses. A bakery in Montreal says it could lose several staff members, and workers could be kicked out of the country.

New immigration program more strict than PEQ

Once the PEQ program ended, a new program called the Skilled Worker Selection Program became the sole route for immigrants wishing to settle in the province for economic reasons.

However, that program — which is known by its French initials PSTQ — provides a more narrow pathway to permanent residency.

A person holding a sign at a protest. — A woman holds a sign at the Nov. 17 protest that states that immigrants who have learned French and integrated into Quebec society are being abandoned by the government. (Samir Bendjafer/Radio-Canada)

Both the outgoing premier François Legault and Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge have lauded the PSTQ because it gives the province more control over who settles in Quebec. The new system values applications in the health and education sectors while penalizing applications from the greater Montreal area.

In recent weeks, other mayors in the province have spoken out about the end of the PEQ, including Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand.