A Lebanese neurologist employed in Bas-Saint-Laurent has been watching his savings dwindle for months as he is unable to start work due to the slowness of the Canadian Immigration Service (IRCC) in processing his work permit application.
The DR Wissam Rizk has had his professional license from the College of Physicians in his pocket since December 12, a license he received after a three-month, unpaid evaluation internship that he passed with flying colours.
He also signed a contract with the CISSS du Bas-Saint-Laurent. Starting tomorrow morning, he could and would like to help his colleagues, who are finding it difficult to rest given the magnitude of the task to be completed, the long waiting times and the prevailing lack of resources.
However, the DR Risk is waiting. Immigration Canada has had its permit application since November and since then there has been radio silence, except for this status, which is posted in the digital file of the client concerned: “Awaiting processing. »
“I just don’t understand it,” wonders the DD Nao Bélanger, neurologist at Rimouski Hospital and future colleague of Dr.R Risk. Wissam has a signed contract, he has his admission number from the College of Physicians, he is physically at Rimouski, there is so much missing from his record that we even put him on the schedule! We had to turn everything upside down because he still hasn’t heard from Immigration Canada. »
Contacted by The dutyThe DR Wissam Rizk declined our interview request. “The last few weeks have been very exhausting for me,” he explains, apologizing for not having the strength or energy to expose his situation for the umpteenth time. This whole situation worries me a lot. You know, writing to MPs and speaking to ministers are not steps I’m used to. »
I just do not understand. Wissam has a signed contract, he has his license number from the College of Physicians, he is physically at Rimouski, there is so much missing from his record that we even put him on the schedule!
The neurologist’s setbacks, first uncovered by Radio-Canada, rebounded through Quebec’s immigration and health departments and found echoes in the ears of federal congressmen Bernard Généreux and Maxime Blanchette-Joncas.
“Is it reasonable, asks the latter, that a citizen applying for a permit must necessarily apply to deputies and ministers just to obtain the right to work? The situation was completely unimaginable, the Bloc member for Rimouski-Neigette-Témiscouata-Les Basques protested. The worst, concludes Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, is that this is a normal delay for immigration services, which allow up to 168 days for processing. Five months ! »
A region that needs reinforcements
D’s helpR However, Wissam Rizk would not be a luxury in eastern Quebec, where the specialized medical care plan calls for seven neurologists for Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie. “We currently have four,” explains CISSS du Bas-Saint-Laurent Director of Professional Services, Louis Prévost, including one who has been trying to retire since 2020 and who remains in the position part-time out of professional conscience . »
Bas-Saint-Laurent brings up the rear when it comes to waiting times for specialist care. The regional CISSS identifies a lack of succession and is reaching out to the international community to address its staffing shortage. In the case DR Wissam Rizk began steps to ensure his arrival at Rimouski in 2021.
“I have a candidate, it took me four years,” emphasizes Louis Prévost. International recruitment in Quebec is not a jungle, it is well organized but it is a system with its own deadlines. The last step is Immigration Canada. Sometimes it takes 10 days, sometimes several months. »
As they wait for Immigration Canada to grant the doctor his work permit, the four neurologists from Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie carry the health of a population from La Pocatière to Percé on their shoulders.
“In 2020 there were five of us to take custody. Today there are three of us, describes the DD Noa Belanger. This situation increases waiting times for patients: some follow-up examinations that I want to do within three or four months sometimes have to wait a year. »
The neurologist points out that the cumulative delay in appointments three years ago varied between two and three months. “Today it can take up to nine months,” she complains, and is not surprised that reinforcements from abroad are exposed to unnecessary stress and have to wait months for work permits.
“We want skilled workers, and when we find them, we let them hang around,” laments the DD Belanger. It’s very sad. »
Extended Temporary License
The temporary residence permit of DR Wissam Rizk ends on March 15th. “There is no question that he will have to return to his country after the deadline,” says MP Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, who says he speaks “regularly” to Assistant to Canada’s Immigration Minister Sean Fraser to open the folder.
By email, Immigration Canada confirms that “An alien already in Canada who is applying for a work permit extension before their current permit expires […] keep their status […] until a decision is made on his new application”.
IRCC says it processed “approximately 756,000 work permits” in 2022, “compared to 215,000 in 2021”.R Rizk will receive his, but remains unknown: the department says it declines to comment on specific cases out of respect for privacy laws.
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