‘The clock is ticking’: Quebec government to re-open PEQ, but uncertainty remains

Former applicants under the PEQ – Quebec’s fast-track permanent residency pathway – are wondering what comes next after Premier Christine Fréchette pledged to re-open the defunct immigration stream after it was closed in November.

The government says the program will be open for another two years.

READ: Quebec National Assembly resumes; Premier Fréchette to re-open PEQ

UQAM professor of mathematics Alejandro Morales Borrero spent 15 months wondering if his family might have to leave Quebec after the program was cancelled.

“We definitely moved back here because this was a great place we wanted to raise our family,” he told CityNews.

“You’re juggling with several balls at the same time and things can fall through.”

Morales Borrero views the latest from Fréchette as a glimmer of hope. “We see that as a very positive development,” he said.

But even with the program set to return, the UQAM professor says key details are still missing, including what documents he’ll need and whether the rules have changed.

He says it took six weeks just to gather the paperwork needed for his last application.

“If something falls through and you have to reapply, you could lose a year,” he explained. “So, two years is great, but hopefully there’s some contingencies built into the system.”

Morales Borrero is far from being alone in his uncertainty of what’s to come.

“The clock is ticking. Every day that I spend, my work permit is expiring,” said Nadir Belaid, the spokesperson for Le Québec, c’est nous aussi.

“Is it going to go back to what it was before? Is it going to be a new condition?”

Advocates say they want a say in how the program is relaunched, and clarity on what it will look like.

The Quebec Experience Program, known as the PEQ, had been the province’s second pathway to permanent residency.

It was cancelled last fall as the government cut immigration by a quarter, triggering backlash from applicants who had already spent years working in the province to qualify.

Bringing it back was a flagship promise for the new premier during her leadership race.

“There was a pause, and now we are considering reopening,” said Viviane Albuquerque, an immigration lawyer with Mobilitys, Inc. “There is definitely going to be an influx of applications.”

Lack of details so far

Apart from Fréchette’s promise, key details are still missing – something the Immigration Ministry told CityNews will come “in due course.”

“The Ministry is currently working on transition scenarios between the Quebec Experience Program (PEQ) and the Skilled Worker Selection Program (PSTQ),” the Ministry wrote in a brief statement.

Albuquerque says it’s not certain the program will still have the same criteria as before, especially as Quebec tries to stay within its immigration targets – something Fréchette says she will respect.

“What has been done in the past was the PEQ numbers do not count towards the (immigration) level plan,” Albuquerque said.

“Or they can remove the PSTQ for at least a few years.”

The immigration lawyer also adds that approval can take up to six months under the PEQ, excluding the time needed to prepare an application, which is why she says more clarity is needed right away.

“We need at least individuals who have the time to prepare, to gather the documents,” she said.