Media sources confirmed to Arab Canada newspaper that the legal procedures filed against the Minister of Immigration, Francisation, and Integration in the Quebec provincial government, Christine Fréchette, have been dropped, forcing her to find a solution to the significant delays in processing immigration files under the family reunification category.

The intervention of the federal government in the issue ultimately led to convincing the lawyer handling the case to drop it.

Immigration lawyer Maxim Lapointe had submitted a request in February for a judicial review of the reasons for these delays.

The Quebec lawyer explains that several files have been placed on the processing table since then, including the file of his client named Kaba Keita.

This development, according to his understanding, is attributed to directives from the federal government's Minister of Immigration, Marc Miller, to accelerate the processing of permanent residence applications from applicants who obtained the Quebec Selection Certificate (CSQ), even if this decision affects accepting a larger number of immigrants exceeding the quota set by Quebec.

It is noteworthy that the Minister of Immigration in the Coalition Avenir Québec government had strongly condemned Ottawa's instructions, describing them as a direct insult to the powers held by Quebec. It should be noted that Quebec is the only Canadian province that has the authority to issue the selection certificate on the basis of which immigration or residence applications are accepted.

Upon receiving the Quebec selection certificate, the immigration applicant can apply for permanent residence which allows them to live and work wherever they wish in Canada’s ten provinces and three territories.

Lawyer Lapointe regrets in the lawsuit he filed that as of November 9 last year, there were nearly 37,000 family reunification files awaiting processing in Quebec.

The lawyer points out that the delay in processing immigration files in Quebec reached about 34 months compared to 12 months in other Canadian provinces.

It is mentioned that the Coalition Avenir Québec government maintained in its latest immigration plan the quota it set, which is accepting slightly more than 10,000 files annually in the family reunification category.

In response to the dropping of the lawsuit, the office of the Quebec Minister of Immigration stated yesterday, Thursday, that solutions are still being sought to allow the ministry to reduce the waiting period for applicants without having to review the quota set by Quebec and increase the number of immigrants.

The immigration office pointed out that the François Legault government continues to study how to reduce the waiting period in the family reunification category through possible amendments within the quota rates.

The office explains the ministry’s keenness to maintain the best balance between welcoming immigrants for humanitarian reasons, or in the family reunification category, or economic immigration.