Q. My husband and I applied for permanent residency under the federal skilled worker’s program and recently received our passports stamped with the immigrant visas. At the time we applied we were both in US. Since then I have found a job in Quebec and have been working and living in Quebec since July 2003. I anticipate being in Quebec until July 2005 and then moving to Ontario where both my husband’s and my family live.
Since we do not anticipate staying in Quebec in the long term, we would like to land in Ontario. Will then immigration officer see a problem if he sees that I live and work in Quebec but have not applied for the Quebec certificate of admissibility?

A. If it appears that you intend to reside in Quebec following landing in Canada as a permanent resident, then an immigration official is likely to insist that your obtain a Certificat de sélection du Québec prior to concluding the process. This would typically apply even if you do not necessarily intend to remain in Quebec permanently after landing.

If you are able to defer your landing for a sufficient period, then this may allow you to retain your Quebec employment temporarily, but land in Ontario without difficulty upon its conclusion.

The CREWS program helps employers find skilled workers and bring them to Canada legally. But the program is up for renewal next month and is currently under discussion. ‘We’re back at the table discussing this because we all thought there was merit to the memorandum of understanding,’ says John McVean, a program director with Human Resources Skills Development Canada.

An internal government document, obtained under the Access to Information Act, shows that Ottawa has contemplated an amnesty program to grant legal status to at least 10,000 undocumented immigrants living and working in Canada’s vast underground economy.