amitbajwa

Hi Guys,

As most of the occupations were removed from federal visa category last year, can anyone please tell me what is the success rate of being accepted by Quebec province. And what level of French is expected from you ? My consultant says that "as long as you have some basic knowledge about French, you should be fine".

Also does everyone has to go for Quebec Stage-1 interview or only 50% of the applicants are asked to attend the interview. Is Stage-1 the most critical part of this process or Federal Stage is also tough ?

Basically, I have 5 years of UK IT experience and a bachelors degree in computer science. Applying with spouse and two kids (4 years and 2 years).

Is Quebec category an easy alternative to Federal visa (as long as you have the right education, experience and basic knowledge of French) ?

Regards,
Amit

mandymoochops

From what I understand it's a little more than a 'basic knowledge' of French. If you have a look in the immigration forum theres been a couple of threads recently about this.

You have to take a French exam and someone said that part of it is a spoken test - which obviously is conducted in French. One of the questions was "What is your view on Canadian politics"

I wouldn't even know how to answer that lucidly in English - let aone French.

I would suggest your consultant may be dumbing down the requirements to get you to part with your money!

amitbajwa

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. I have already started learning French at home using Rosetostone French Level 1-3 and I am also planning to attend a 2 weeks intensive course from www.alliancefrancaise.org.uk ,
On top of that I am hoping to get 2 to 4 hours of personal French Language Tuition, as I am very serious about learning French so I can get Quebec certificate of Selection.
Please advise would I be able to cope with the interview if I keep it up like this for at least 6 months ? (fyi, I have no previous knowledge of French Language).

Cheers,
amit

Alan2005

You could probably just give a gallic shrug and get 100%.

mandymoochops

What makes you think that I am in a position to advise you of this. My reply was a generic "from what I understand".

I live in Alberta - don't speak French, have never been to quebec and am unlikely ever to.

If you post a thread on the immigration forum asking this question you may get some replies from those who know more.

amitbajwa

Thanks !

britsnake

I came as a Quebec Immigrant and I would say that you will need more.

In Quebec, if you studied french for 3 months 30 hours per week, you would gain what they would call a basic level of french. 6 months would give you a intermediate level.

I went to my interview with roughly what you are planning to have. What they did to me was give me an extra year to improve my french. I was then required to take an exam and prove my proficiency. They asked me to get to level B1 or Level 5 on the Canadian scale. I thought they were asking alot at the time, but now realise that this was pretty basic.

I studied for 9 hours per week for 9 months in formal classes with a tutor and went to french meetups for 3 hours per week to practice. I also went on holiday alot in France for 3 weeks in total.

At the end, I also did an intensive french course at the alliance francaise in Paris for two weeks. After all this I gained the level I needed. Which was an intermediate level.

If you are a native french speaker, or ar married to a native french speaker it is less likely for you to be called for interview.

They want you to have a working knowledge of french.

BristolUK

Lilipuddlian

One word : Montréal. With high tech, you can work in Montréal, otherwise, forget it unless you are fluent in conversational French. I live on the border of Quebec and we are a bilingual city (Ottawa). Basic french does NOT cut it here for jobs and we are in Ontario. So I would say your advisor is WRONG.

The best news, however, is that as a tech worker, you are one of those exceptions to the language rule. You can definitely be a tech worker in Montréal and speak no french : I know people who are doing just that.

Good luck!! High tech is quite well paid in Canada, if you are in the right industry at the right time.

Lilipuddlian

By the way, just wanted to add that we are a high-tech family and Ottawa is considered a hot spot for this industry. Why move to Quebec in the first place? Not that it isn't a beautiful province with great culture, but the language issue is a huge barrier for most people.

amitbajwa

Thanks for your advice Lilipuddlian. I will definitely consider living in Montreal if I make it to the last stage of Quebec immigration.
The reason I am focusing on Quebec is that my occupation has already been removed from federal skilled class. Is it possible I take Quebec immigration and live somewhere outside Quebec (I will obviously try to get a job in Montreal first) ?

AmyDavid

Is this thread not really similar to that one the other day, where an immigration consultant/lawyer was recommending people go down the Quebec stream just to get PR and then move where you want to in Canada?

britsnake

When I had my interview for Quebec, they stressed the importance of a good level of french as they felt that without it you would not integrate and would end up moving out of quebec to another province.

I believe that as English speakers they put a higher premium on french, as they realise that it is much easier for us to give up and settle in another province.

We are not prisoners and can move to another province if things don't work out or if a great job offer comes up or if at some time we just chose to.

At the interview I did not lie, or missrepresnt anything. They new I had stronger ties with other parts of Canada, but they let me in anyway.

Lilipuddlian

Hmmm. I find this very interesting. I am doing my Masters right now in Social Policy and last week we debated Quebec's immigration policy. I am surprised that they will let ppl in who don't speak french. In fact, I don't think Quebec will let anybody in who does not speak French. Don't underestimate how political language is in Quebec.

Also of consideration is the language your children will be educated in. It's very political and getting into an English school is not guaranteed. On the other hand, there are a lot of very family friendly policies (daycare, great parental leave, etc.) if you have young children -- much better policies than the rest of Canada.

I think Quebec would work fine as a back door and I am sure this is others are doing just that. Montreal is a beautiful city... not a bad back door to come through.

Good luck!

Howick

If you cannot continue a conversation in adequate French, you will not succeed in the long term, in Quebec.

To support this comment, I worked for Air Canada- which is about as English speaking as you will get in corporate Quebec. Most Quebekers are actually insulted if you stay in Montreal & make no effort to learn Francais. In most work environments, I would now suggest socialising takes place in French- not the phone call to a customer/supplier in the USA, but the real nuts & bolts of daily conversations in the office, that we all take for granted in English speaking countries.

Against this (& I mentioned this in another thread), are you prepared to go to intensive night school, with a young family to support? You absolutely should, but will you? In my experience, there were 9 English speaking people from the UK/Aus & South Africa, for various periods of time that I knew well. One of those- and family, remains in Montreal. Two moved back to their home country & the remainder are in Ontario.

What am I saying, the French, or lack thereof- grinds you down, and the effort required to learn is neither short, or easy. The least of your worries should be your kids- they'll be bilingual in no time & if your partner is unilingual & a stay at home Mum, she'll also be fine. Quebecers are not silly, if you make the effort, they too make the effort, but the last 30 years of emigration from the province has left a lot of Quebecers with a very fragile mindset.

Socially, on the weekend going to the shops & taking the kids to the park- again, English is not a problem. I maintain the biggest challenge is in the work environment & the effort you make. It's a horrible feeling speaking French knowing that you're mangling every conjugation possible- but that is the only way you will succeed. Any, allow twice the timeframe you originally think it will take you to become conversationally competent.

.........and that is why few Anglophones from an English speaking country stick it out in Quebec.