đ Family reunification: a moratorium on love
Despite promising a new immigration plan, the government is maintaining the status quo â and thousands of Quebec families remain separated.
Context
The Quebec government has just unveiled its 2026-2029 immigration plan. After analysis, one thing is clear: nothing is planned to remedy the family reunification crisis.
The number of admissions has even been slightly revised downwards, and the plan makes no mention of resuming the issuance of Quebec Selection Certificates (CSQs), which have been suspended since 2025. In other words, there is no confirmation that separated families will be able to submit their applications before 2026.
This complete silence on family CSQs is particularly worrying. Not only does the plan avoid specifying a resumption date, it does not even mention the existence of the family selection mechanism in this section.
This complete silence on family CSQs is particularly worrying. Not only does the plan avoid indicating a resumption date, but it does not even mention the existence of the family selection mechanism in this section of the multi-year plan.
In other words, family reunification has simply been erased from the official document, as if the thousands of new applications pending did not exist. This deliberate omission creates an administrative vacuum and fuels confusion: neither sponsors nor federal authorities know when Quebec plans to reopen the issuance of CSQsâa step that is essential for the federal process to move forward.
âA moratorium on love with a foreignerâ
âThe minister has chosen to ignore the requests of Quebecers who sponsor immigrants. This is equivalent to a moratorium on love with a foreigner. While other provinces reunite families in 15 months, Quebec maintains a system that requires nearly 40. â
â Marie-Gervaise Pilon, campaign coordinator for QuĂ©bec RĂ©unifiĂ©.
Quebec thus retains its sad position as the world leader in the longest delays for family reunification.
A worrying administrative silence
This silence from the ministry is deeply worrying for the families concerned. For months, thousands of couples and parents have been living in total uncertainty, not knowing when they will finally be able to be reunited.
Meanwhile, the federal government already has average processing times of 39 months for Quebec casesâmore than double the processing times elsewhere in Canada. Until Quebec reopens the issuance of CSQs, the gap will only widen.
A finding ignored by the government
The report by the Commission des relations avec les citoyens (CRC), published following public consultations on immigration planning, clearly acknowledges the family reunification crisis. However, none of the recommendations made to remedy the situation have been taken up by the government.
Worse still, the minister is ignoring the recommendation of the French Language Commissioner, who proposed reducing the proportion of economic immigration (currently 75%) to better support francization and family reunification.
đ See also: Rapport sur la capacitĂ© dâaccueil du QuĂ©bec pour le regroupement familial (2022-2025) âReport on Quebecâs capacity for family reunification (2022-2025) â a study by QuĂ©bec RĂ©unifiĂ© showing that family reunification does not weigh on the provinceâs capacity, but suffers mainly from a lack of institutional follow-up.
A call for federal collaboration
Québec Réunifié invites Federal Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab to work closely with her Quebec counterpart to resolve this intergovernmental impasse, as Marc Miller attempted to do before her.
âIt is unacceptable that in Canada, Quebecers are treated as second-class citizens because of decisions made in Quebec City.ââ Marie-Gervaise Pilon
The message is simple: Quebecâs binational families do not need compassion, they need change. Every additional day of waiting is a widening social divide, a promise of welcome that is losing its meaning. It is time for Quebec to restore consistency between its humanist values and its public policies.
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