mpitillo

Hello everyone,

My partner and I have got our new Canadian PR (SW1-FED: Skilled Worker – Federal) via Express Entry back at the end of 2018, where at the time we've picked "Vancouver, British Columbia" as our city of destination. We have soft landed in Toronto already, and have activated the card etc. We have had another PR back in the beginning of 2010s and have lived in Vancouver for over 2 years, but at that time it was CE1, and we couldn't renew it as we had to immediately move to UK after that.

Between getting the new PR (2018) and now, we have realized more and more that the best job opportunities offered to us are coming from Montreal, Quebec. Our industry is relatively small, and any offers in Vancouver have been quite bad, given the more expensive life cost that comes with Vancouver. Meaning that we now have the intention to move to Quebec, instead of British Columbia, and have not lived anywhere else in Canada since we got this second PR.

My main intent with this post is to find out if other people were in a similar situation than me, and to get realistic information about this. My main worry is with moving directly to Quebec, since I have selected a different destination in my COPR.

I am well aware about the QSWP and that if you intend to work in Quebec, you should apply via their Provincial Program. But I have also reached out to immigration lawyers; other people online and my Employer in Canada, and they all said that legally speaking, as soon as you get your PR Card, you are allowed to work and live anywhere, even if you did it via other programs. Of course this is not ideal, but CIC is well aware that this can happen sometimes, based on everyone's life circumstances. But again, I am still worried, and wanted to confirm this info with someone that have experienced the exact same scenario as me, and to find out if they had issues when applying for the citizenship later on.

A few bits of info that I found out online in regards to this:

Thank you so much for your time! I really appreciate it!

christmasoompa

Yes, of course you can. You have a right to live anywhere in Canada as a PR.

But CIC also have the right to revoke PR if they feel it was obtained via misrepresentation i.e. you intended to live in Quebec all along. They can also revoke citizenship years down the line for PR misrepresentation. Whether it would happen is another matter, but even if the chance is only tiny is it worth risking having that hanging over your head? Personally I'd try moving somewhere else and giving it a go for a year, then moving to Quebec if you still can't find work etc - at least that way you can prove you tried to move to the rest of Canada and you're not risking your PR/citizenship.

mpitillo

Thank you so much for your response. I really appreciate it.

I think my conclusion from this is that I should be careful, and make sure to keep any record that shows my "tentative" to live in Canada in places other than Quebec. And then if it comes to that later on when applying for Citizenship, I can bring these record with me and probably the help of another immigration lawyer.

I understand that this might be a risk, but I have already committed to the new job and can't afford waiting for another year in the UK. And as mentioned, I hope that I have enough ways to prove that my intention was never to go to Quebec in the first place.

Thank you again.

Siouxie

CE1 isn't Permanent Residency - it's a temporary work permit (TWP) - so you weren't Permanent Residents back in 2010, from the sound of it - or did you rescind your PR status or have your PR status removed? Were you on an IEC open work permit for 2 years, perhaps?

Please be aware that Provinces have their own rules and regulations about who can settle there - and that's where your problem may be.. with Quebec requiring you to have gone through their FSW PR process. I would still recommend that for the first year you live in a rental in Ontario - near the border to Quebec and commute to your jobs in Montreal if necessary, to ensure you are not risking your hard earned PR for misrepresentation. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration...sentation.html

mpitillo

No, I wasn't with a Temporary Work Permit back in 2010. I was indeed a Permanent Resident, with a PR Card. I had to move to the UK soon after earning my PR, so as soon as I've realized that I wouldn't comply with the # of years required to either renew it, or apply for Citizenship, I purposedely abdicated my PR status, because I wanted to be as transparent as possible with CIC. The plan was always to re-apply in the future, and that's what I've done via Express Entry / SW1-FED: Skilled Worker – Federal,

Thanks for sharing this link about Document fraud. To be fair, the more I read about it, the less worried I get. The main reason because I don' t fit with anything related to that, given that there wasn't any lie at any point during our immigration process. And if it ever gets to the point of an investigation, I am sure that I will have enough evidence to prove that our plan always was to move to Vancouver, and unfortunately it had to change recently.

I will still take in all of your comments and feedback, of course. And will try reaching out to more people to understand better the legal elements behind it and if there might be any consequences. So again, thank you so much for all the info. I truly appreciate it.

In regards to live in Ontario and commute to Montreal every day, that would be extremely hard for me, considering that we are currently not driving and also have dogs to take care at home.

Thank you!