The financial year at SANC ends at the end of June, but the numbers speak for themselves. As of April 30, 471 asylum seekers have knocked on the door. In the period 2021-2022 there were 311.
We achieved 350% of the goals we had to achieve with our funder, the Department of Immigration, Franciscanization and Integration [MIFI]summarizes SANC Director General Manon Couture.
However, the hands of the SANC are tied. Quebec only allows asylum seekers to offer two services: assistance in finding housing and an information session about available government services.
For the rest of the services they have to go to Montreal to the Regional Program for the Reception and Integration of Asylum Seekers, PRAIDA. He is tasked with meeting the needs of asylum seekers in Quebec. But the reality is that when people come here and knock here […]”For the rest of the services they could use, they don’t go to Montreal often,” Ms. Couture pleads.
Sherbrooke New Canadians Assistance Service Director General Manon Couture would like to help asylum seekers more, but the organization’s hands are tied.
Photo: Radio Canada/Christine Office
“We see the need and really wish we could do more. […] Why shouldn’t they have the same services as the other customers? »
– A quote from Manon Couture, Managing Director of SANC
The MIFI recognizes that the powers of regional bodies such as the SANC are limited. Minister Christine Fréchette’s office says it wants to study the impact of the Roxham Road closure at the end of March before extending its mandate or increasing its funding.
In Sherbrooke, the number of asylum seekers who presented themselves to the SANC fell to 32 in April, down from 97 in March.
From Venezuela to Quebec
José Martinez is one of those who chose Sherbrooke as their country of asylum. In his tiny apartment in downtown Sherbrooke, he tells what prompted him to apply for asylum in Canada: persecution, threats, fears for his life. Its calm and balanced tone contrasts with its story.
The Venezuelan left his country in 2017. At that time, violent protests shook the country. He took part, as did tens of thousands of his countrymen. Except that the popular uprising was severely suppressed. Mr. Martinez then felt his life was in danger. Anyone who disagrees will be persecuted. And I am among those who disagree with dictator Nicolas Maduro’s policies, he says, before pointing out that members of the National Guard met him.
In his eyes he had no choice but to leave his country. His escape took him to Peru and then to the United States. Here, too, his security was precarious, he says. Xenophobic and racist threats were numerous. And returning to Venezuela was out of the question for him.
“I felt persecuted. I am afraid to return to my country. fear of dying. »
– A quote from José Martinez, asylum seeker in Sherbrooke
On the way to Canada
After years of fleeing, he decided to seek refuge in Canada. His path to inner peace has a name: Roxham. He crossed it on December 5, 2022. As soon as he set down his suitcase on Canadian soil, a sense of well-being washed over him.
“We were treated like human beings. […] I am grateful that I finally feel safe. »
— A quote from José Martinez, asylum seeker
After a stopover in Montreal, he moved to Sherbrooke on March 1, lured by the cost of living. For him, Canada and Quebec are truly welcoming countries. But not everything is perfect.
José Martinez has recently arrived in Sherbrooke and volunteers whenever he can. Here he volunteers for an activity co-organized by Actions interculturelles.
Photo: Radio Canada / Titouan Bussiere
For example, due to his status as an asylum seeker, he cannot receive support for the care of his little 1½ year old. In the early days, the floor served him as a bed. His apartment is gradually being furnished, as is his schedule.
At school, but not at work
Today, José is taking full-time francification courses at the Center Saint-Michel in Sherbrooke. In his lessons on Wednesday mornings, the lessons are overflowing. In my class I have three nurses, an agricultural scientist and two engineers, says teacher Johanne Deschênes. These are mostly highly educated people.
In her Frenchization course on Wednesday morning, Johanne Deschênes may use the game as a learning method. She notes how willing her students are to help learn the language.
Photo: Radio Canada
The atmosphere in her class is good-natured, even though she knows that French is not a game for her students.
Because the ultimate goal for them is to learn French naturally, but that’s it [surtout] to make her dream come true, to work again, to use her diploma, to really settle in Quebec, in Sherbrooke, to raise her family there, to develop her community, to integrate into the Quebec community. And as the saying goes: work, earn money and have a good life, she sums it up.
Also on school desks on the rise
At the Saint-Michel center in Sherbrooke, 289 asylum seekers were registered last April, compared to 131 in 2021-2022. At the Center de Services Scolaire de la Région-de-Sherbrooke, there are five times more children with this status than last year: 124 students last April, compared with 27 in 2021-2022.
On a Wednesday in May, José Martinez confided to his teacher that he had trouble sleeping these days.
He has been in Quebec for almost six months and is still waiting for his work permit. He’s paid for legal counsel and made sure his papers are in order, but like many others, he’s still in limbo.
When he blew out his 30 candles far away from his family a week ago, it was undoubtedly his wish: to be given a work permit. “I want to work,” the young man repeats.
According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, as of February 25, 2023, 80% of work permit applications are approved within five days of receiving a positive permit decision.
However, José must first pass an interview before receiving an answer, whether positive or not. When is this interview scheduled? “I don’t have a date yet,” he said.
Sherbrooke MP Elisabeth Brière acknowledges that a delay of several months is possible for asylum seekers. It depends on whether the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, an independent administrative tribunal, finds it easy or difficult to determine whether the asylum application is legitimate, she replied via email.
Meanwhile, the financial support he receives from Quebec – nearly $800 a month – is almost entirely eaten up by his rent. But José Martinez does not want more money from the government. In particular, he wants to work to send money to his mother, whom he has not seen for six years.
Despite the pitfalls, the Venezuelan is aware of his chances to feature at Sherbrooke. Nevertheless, he draws a smile from his small balcony: Life is beautiful. It’s hard, but life is beautiful.