Protesters gathered in front of the Ministry of Immigration on Feb. 7 to protest Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge’s decision to abolish the Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ), a popular immigration program for international students and foreign workers seeking to obtain Canadian citizenship. The demonstration was organized by Le Québec c’est nous aussi, Syndicat APTS, Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux (CSN), and Les Orphelins Du PEQ.

Prior to this decision, the PEQ admitted 20,000 people annually, all required to have advanced French language skills and at least two years of work experience in the province under a Quebecois employer. Meeting these criteria, participants could obtain a Quebec Selection Certificate (CSQ) from the Ministry of Immigration, Francization, and Integration, which affirmed that the holder had been selected to settle in Quebec. Participants could then apply for permanent residency in Canada. 

Roberge abolished the program on Nov. 6, replacing it with the Skilled Worker Selection Program (SWSP). The SWSP is a points-based system that assesses applicants depending on how their labour skills factor into the province’s market needs. It also requires applicants to have a degree, thereby excluding international undergraduate students. Those who were already pursuing Canadian citizenship through PEQ will not have any advantages under the SWSP system.

Chloe Brough moved from France to Montreal three years ago with her husband and two children. She, like many others, was expecting to settle in Canada permanently through the PEQ, and now feels she has no real chance of receiving citizenship through the SWSP. 

“My only chance to stay here is the PEQ,” Brough said. “When I came in 2023, […] it was granted that I could stay in Quebec. I’m highly qualified, I have two kids, we are French. It was heartbreaking, […] the feeling of betrayal by this development [….] What are we going to offer to the kids back in France? We are integrated and we want to stay here. It matters for us.” 

This demonstration was one of seven across Quebec, with several thousand in total marching for the reinstatement of the PEQ or the implementation of a grandfather clause, which would grant a CSQ to immigrants already established in Quebec under the PEQ. 

Guillaume Cliche-Rivard, Parliament member and speaker for Quebec Solidaire, began the demonstration by announcing to the crowd of nearly 150 that protests will persist until the government agrees to honour its promise of citizenship to immigrants enrolled in the PEQ.

“In this crisis, Jean-François Roberge did something that I didn’t think he was capable of doing. He has named himself the worst immigration minister in Quebec’s recent history,” Cliche-Rivard announced. “It is terrible, the attack on Quebec’s reputation that Jean-François Roberge has made. All over the world, we see images of broken promises from people who have travelled to Quebec, who have learned French, who have studied at its institutions, who have worked day and night for Quebec, and who are abandoned.”

Afterwards, Cliche-Rivard expanded on his speech in an interview with The Tribune, stating that Roberge’s decision is senseless in the eyes of the public and Parliament alike. 

“This cannot stand. We promised so much to these people. They left everything behind to work here and immigrate here, and now we’re going to abandon them,” Cliche-Rivard said. “[Roberge is] the only one thinking this is a good idea. Now, Quebec is unanimous, asking him to quash that decision and to go back with the program that was so good for Quebec. So, the only thing he has to do now is to reinstate the PEQ.”

CSN President Caroline Senneville took the stage next, noting that Roberge’s decision harms international students who came to the province for its multicultural reputation, a trait which she believes will greatly diminish should the program not be reinstated. 

“This is a closing of the doors, a step backward, and it sends an extremely worrying message to thousands of people who are already integrated, already rooted, and already engaged in the society,” Senneville said. “The refusal to implement a grandfather clause is particularly scandalous. [Abolishing the PEQ] directly impacts people who have followed all the rules, completed their studies, and planned their future according to the program the government is thus abolishing [….] By abolishing the PEQ, the government is, once again, abandoning international students.” 

Shawn, a protester holding a sign that read “bait and switch,” who withheld his last name, said he came to the protest in support of his girlfriend, a former PEQ applicant who must now restart her immigration process. 

“A lot of people came here with a promise that they’d be able to build a life here. They came here to get a better future. What’s being done right now is basically robbing them of that promise,” Shawn said. “It’s dishonest to the people who invested themselves, came here, paid taxes, and are part of our communities [….] This country was built by immigrants, and now we’re closing the door behind them.”

*Caroline Senneville’s and the first of Guillaume Cliche-Rivard’s quotes were translated from French