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Some entrepreneurs who wish to move to the province through the Quebec Entrepreneur Program (QEP) and Quebec Self-Employed Program (QSP) will have to change their plans.
As of December 28, the program is no longer available to English-speaking immigrants.
In a press release announcing last week’s decision, Immigration Minister Christine Frechette said it was the first step to strengthen permanent French-speaking immigration to Quebec.
Marc-André Séguin, an immigration attorney, said: “It is very disappointing and frankly shocking to say that this will be yet another measure that will help protect French in the state.
Only 75 applicants a year do not speak French. There are no such quotas in the French-speaking world.
Winston Chen, who spearheaded the Entrepreneurship Program in 2018, was disappointed to hear the news.
“We are just severing the talent pool of entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs,” Chen said. “Now is not the time. There is also a shortage of entrepreneurs and a shortage of new companies.”
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French use at home is just one indicator of language health: Quebec demographer
Immigration experts say the decision will only hurt Quebec.
“What we want is to make sure Quebec is at the top,” said immigration consultant Christine Purin. “We need people. We want to attract people to work with the top.”
Susan Harris, an artist from New York, was planning to move to Montreal and eventually open her own gallery.
“This summer I bought a house in Montreal, got to know some of the people in the arts, and started going to galleries and museums,” Harris said. “Each trip made me happier and more excited to do this.”
However, Harris received a letter last week informing her that her application would not be processed.
“I don’t think my residency application as a technically non-French speaker is endangering anyone, or certainly French culture,” Harris said, learning French and I have made every effort to speak.
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Immigration experts say people like Harris fear settling in other states and the Department of Immigration could have handled it differently.
“They could absolutely have made a selection certificate on the condition that these applicants were actually fluent in French,” Séguin said. It can be done at the end of the process instead of at the beginning.”
In his speech at the opening of the 43rd National Assembly, Prime Minister François Legault made it clear that one of his top priorities is to halt the decline of the French in the state.
According to Legault, French-speaking immigrants are essential to achieving that goal.
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