How 1 woman is grappling with Quebec's new immigration program and its 'contradictions'

Florence Bollet Michel's score has sat unchanged for months in the database of people looking to settle permanently in Quebec — and it's about to take a dip.

Bollet Michel is one of thousands of applicants to the province's new economic immigration pathway, the Skilled Worker Selection Program, or PSTQ, which ranks people on a points-based system that works off evolving government priorities.

At this moment, three digits summarize her entire life and expertise — at least to Quebec's Immigration Ministry.

Every month, the ministry will select applicants who score highest among those who fit the province's specific immigration needs, and invite them to apply for permanent selection.

Just under 7,000 people received invites since December, according to the ministry. But Bollet Michel was not among them.

"Every month, it's anguish, it's waiting. I check my emails, we exchange messages with other colleagues who are in the same situation. We hope and then each time it's disappointment," she said. "The weeks and months go by, it's hard every time."

The mother of four is a social worker who was recruited by Santé Québec about four years ago while living in Europe.

Despite having over 15 years of experience in a job that Quebec considers to be lacking in the province, there are a number of factors that work against Bollet Michel reaching the maximum score of 1,400. Her score is currently 611.

She's 46, lives in Montreal and is married — components of her life for which she is penalized by the PSTQ's scoring system.

In April, her validated job offer will expire, which will set her back another 30 points. Renewals take months and are initiated by the employer at a fee.

"For those who are waiting like me, I can tell you that there is no predictability and we really feel like they're playing with our lives like in the lottery," she said, referring to the minister of immigration's assertion that the PSTQ is not that — a lottery.

In November, Immigration Minister Jean-François Roberge eliminated the Programme de l'expérience québécoise (PEQ) and made the newer and stricter PSTQ the only pathway for economic migrants with their eyes on Quebec.

The PSTQ essentially exists so that Quebec can prioritize the best candidates in key sectors — education, health care, child care and manufacturing — and drive more immigration to the regions, Roberge says. The PEQ, on the other hand, operated on a first-come, first-served basis and most candidates would end up in Montreal.

The PSTQ is divided into four streams, each with its own criteria to respect: specialized workers, those with intermediate competence and manual skills, regulated professions, and exceptional talent. Applicants who wish to live in Quebec permanently have to submit a declaration of interest through the Arrima platform, and then they're given a score.