Two Laurentians doctors of French descent who have lived in Quebec for five years are forced to abandon at least 2,700 patients because Immigration Canada refused to renew their temporary residence permits, preventing them from working.
“We have no status at the moment […]. “It’s dramatic not being able to work anymore just because of the paperwork,” regrets doctor Jean-Louis Ménard. Her children aged 12 and 19 are also prohibited from working or attending school.
He and his wife Isabelle Branco are both family doctors in Rivière-Rouge. They care for at least 2,700 patients, not counting visits and hours at the local hospital.
The family has lived in Quebec for five years. Your application for permanent residence was duly submitted more than two years ago. What was supposed to take 18 to 20 months remained unanswered.
In the meantime, they have to constantly renew their temporary residence permit. In February MMe Branco has started the fourth extension, which expires in May.
With no news in May and June, she asked her local MP and staff for help. “Everything was fine,” assures M.Me Branco, who then benefited from a tacit permission that allowed him to continue working but which prohibited him from leaving the country.
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Bad document
She should ask in September. And that’s when she realized she’d made a mistake by uploading the wrong receipt on her application. The correct file was quickly sent to the officials.
Little did she know, however, that in late July she had not received a message from Immigration Canada informing her of the error and giving her a week to correct it.
She recognizes her guilt, but MMe Branco remembers that “this story was still being resolved.”
Nothing to do, her license is denied.
“With the amount of documents required from us, there is definitely an overload [pour les fonctionnaires] “, she complains.
Her family, which comes from France, has had to prove twice in the past five years that they speak French, she jokes. The couple must also undergo regular medical check-ups to ensure their health.
To start over
You will now have to start over and submit a fifth license renewal application. The two doctors have also canceled their practice days since last Thursday and until further notice.
“They ask us to redo the entire file, but in the meantime we are suspended without rights. “It’s starting to get more than embarrassing,” denounces Mr. Ménard.
Her family chose to settle in a region where there is a shortage of doctors, as Laurentides MP Labelle Marie-Hélène Gaudreau pointed out.
Urgent request
“For me this is unacceptable,” said the representative of the Bloc Québécois, referring to the bureaucratic burden that deprives thousands of taxpayers of their doctor.
Marie-Hélène Gaudreau of the Bloc Québécois is MP for Laurentides-Labelle.
Decency
She made an urgent request to hear the case of the two doctors by the end of the week in order to clarify the issue.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRRC) declined to comment on this specific case. However, spokeswoman Nancy Caron maintains that requests from people who provide essential services, such as doctors, will be prioritized.
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