🌊 A Citizen Tidal Wave to Move Quebec
IRCC procrastinates, families mobilise. How a petition could bring change in Quebec.
1️⃣ IRCC remains tight-lipped
We consider our meeting on 12 August 2025 with a senior IRCC official to have been ‘positive’. However, this impression is tempered by caution: the answers given raise as many new questions as they provide certainties.
Key points raised:
IRCC does not seem willing to move forward without the approval of MIFI.
There is a risk that the federal agency will require the CSQ upon submission of applications, as it does for other immigration categories, which would effectively freeze applications. Furthermore, IRCC has not presented any plan for people already in the process without a CSQ. They would likely simply be contacted once they had obtained one.
The figures cited show a striking imbalance: 93% of permanent residence applications are accepted, compared to only 60% for visitor visas. This is problematic because most visitor visa refusals are justified by the fear that the sponsored person will not leave the country at the end of their visa. This is inconsistent: if most of these same people later obtain permanent residence, why refuse them in advance, prolonging family separation?
We also wondered whether Ministers Diab and Roberge had met. We were told that they had, but apparently without result, since nothing was communicated publicly. We nevertheless insisted that the Minister should speak out publicly, as her silence is worrying and upsetting our members.
👉 In short, it was a useful meeting, but one that confirms the urgency of maintaining political pressure on the MIFI.
💪 The painstaking work of volunteers
Mobilisation is not limited to the families concerned. It is organised on all fronts: volunteers, trade unions, municipalities, chambers of commerce and community organisations. In WhatsApp exchanges, there is a sense of immense energy… and very real fatigue.
One volunteer describes her tedious work on an Excel file filled with hundreds of contacts:
"It's taking forever 😪! I'm taking a break, my neck hurts 😂… I'm not even at 50 and there are 250."
Two others took it upon themselves to contact the members of the collective directly to remind them to sign the petition. It's painstaking work, done patiently, message by message. Their perseverance is appreciated by the whole team: we thank them.
At the same time, groups of volunteers are coordinating a mass email campaign to targeted organisations, with a simple but ambitious goal: to obtain one signature per email.
Tasks completed or in progress:
Municipalities: 1,131+ contacts – completed ✅
Chambers of commerce: ~110 contacts – completed ✅
Immigration lawyers & consultants: 720+ contacts – half completed 🟡
NPOs: 9,700+ listed – outreach ongoing 🔄
Québec Réunifié has also approached trade union federations and civil society groups with which it regularly collaborates, to broaden mobilisation even further.
👉 A titanic task, carried out with rigour, humour and solidarity. And it is far from over.
🎙 In the media earlier this week
The issue of family reunification gained visibility thanks to two significant interventions earlier this week:
Radio-Canada OhDio interview
Marie-G. Pilon, Vice-President of Québec Réunifié, explained live why reuniting a family costs an average of $55,000 in Québec and how the 41-month wait times here contrast with 12–15 months elsewhere in Canada.
👉 Listen again here: Radio-Canada OhDioFull video on YouTube: Our interview on OhDio, converted into a detailed and illustrated report that looks back at the human and financial impact of these absurd delays and costs.
👉 Watch it here: YouTube – Québec RéunifiéArticle in Le Soleil:
Published on 18 August 2025, highlighting the double burden of family reunification: exorbitant financial costs and a serious blow to families’ mental and physical health.
👉 Read it here: Le Soleil
These interventions help break the media silence and show that families separated by Québec bureaucracy are not alone: their cause is now public.
🌐 When civil society gets involved
The petition, launched at the Quebec National Assembly, had collected 1,741 signatures (as of 23 August). But its impact depends on broader dissemination. Already, important relays have appeared:
Community support: TCRI confirmed its signature and commitment to share the petition.
Union support: FIQ and CSN signed and announced dissemination. APTS confirmed a decision is coming soon.
Citizen support: Le Québec c’est nous aussi movement pledged its support.
Academic support: The Observatoire sur la justice migrante republished the petition on LinkedIn.
Professional support: Immigration lawyers and practitioners confirmed their support, stressing the importance of a collective signal.
👉 This shows that family reunification is not just a private issue — it concerns all of Québec society.
🎯 A target to beat: 10,000 signatures
According to projections, the petition could reach 10,000 signatures in ~70 days if the pace continues.
📅 Deadline: before 1 November, when the immigration plan will be tabled.
📌 Why aim high?
In recent examples, we have seen petitions on education gather more than 100,000 signatures. As a result, they could not be ignored and forced the government to take action.
👉 Yes, a petition can make a difference. But it takes a lot, a lot, a lot of signatures.
📈 Other petitions: a point of comparison
The figures speak for themselves. Other petitions currently before the National Assembly have gathered thousands, even hundreds of thousands of signatures:
Education: 159,484 signatures
Rent: 8,123 signatures
Caregivers: 5,691 signatures
Family reunification: 1,741 signatures
👉 These figures show the scale of the challenge: for real impact, we must exceed 10,000 signatures — and ideally many more.
📊 The political context and expert findings
As citizen mobilisation intensifies, the briefs submitted as part of the public consultation confirm the seriousness of the situation.
The AQAADI (Quebec Association of Immigration Lawyers) highlighted in its brief:
Caps that are too low for family reunification, refugees and humanitarian immigration, falling short of even the minimum commitments of the Canada-Quebec Agreement.
More than 142,000 people waiting for permanent residence in June 2025, which could lead to delays of several years or even decades.
Quebec is already 30 months behind the rest of Canada in terms of family reunification.
👉 AQAADI's recommendations include lifting humanitarian and family caps, excluding federal categories from quotas, and implementing a long-term strategic vision.
✊ A movement that is only just beginning
Mobilisation makes perfect sense because IRCC says it will not budge without MIFI, and the petition is addressed specifically to MIFI. Every signature, every union, community or academic endorsement increases the pressure.
📢 Call to action
➡️ Sign the petition: https://tinyurl.com/PetitionQR2025
➡️ Share it with your friends, colleagues and networks.
➡️ Remind your entourage: every signature counts, and together we will reach the required threshold.
✉️ Check your email (and spam folder): your signature is only validated once you click the confirmation link from the National Assembly. You can also forward that confirmation email to invite others to sign.
💪 Want to go further? Join our volunteers to help contact organisations or remind your networks. Reply to this email: we’ll provide contact lists and letter templates.
👉 The minimum target is clear: 10,000 signatures so that the government has no choice but to listen.
