The Superior Court of Quebec has arrived at a decision which challenged the government of Quebec’s decision to apply changes to the Quebec skilled worker eligibility criteria retroactively, Quebec has previously promised applicants that their application would be processed based on regulations in effect when it was submitted.
The decision is on the principle that a promise is enforceable by law when the promisor (person making the promise) makes a promise to the promisee (person being promised) who relies on it to his or her damage.
This important decision is considered a victory for thousands of applicants whose applications for immigration to Canada under the QSWP may have been affected by regulations which were introduced on August 1, 2013.
In February, 2012, Quebec released a document checklist for the QSWP. For the first time which had a key sentence stating ‘your application for a selection certificate will be processed based on regulations in effect when it was submitted.’ This sentence was removed from the checklist in May, 2013.
The QSWP is a points-based Canadian immigration program. Candidates are assessed according to various selection factors, such as language ability and level of education, and awarded a certain number of points based on these factors.
The government of Quebec used new regulations to assess previously submitted applications which significantly changed the way points are calculated. Among the changes made to the points system were changes to be awarded for language ability. The new regulations determined that points for language ability could only be awarded if the applicant could prove advanced-intermediate ability.
By the end of June, 2013, there were more than 50,000 affected applications for a selection certificate under the QSWP. Many of these applications had been submitted while the terms of the original checklist were in effect.
The only transitional measure put in place was to allow only applicants who had submitted their applications between July 8 and August 16, 2013 to withdraw their application voluntarily and obtain a refund.
If these applicants wish to have their case for a selection certificate through the QSWP reassessed based on the points system in effect at the time of submission, they may be able to do so as a result of this case. Therefore this court decision could affect a greater number of applications submitted before February, 2012.
