Canada has announced the closure of its borders to foreigners. Here’s how to inform if you’re on-site or if you need to you install.

The news came Monday evening. In the Face of the magnitude of the crisis of the coronaviruses in the world and particularly in Europe, the canadian Prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has announced the closure of the borders of his country “to those who are not citizens or permanent residents”. As of Wednesday afternoon, foreign nationals (excluding Americans) are therefore no longer allowed to enter Canada.

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For many temporary residents are currently outside of Canada, the “countdown” is launched to return to their country of adoption. “I’m on vacation in Mexico for two weeks and have to return to Canada on Wednesday in the evening. Do you know if I’ll be able to go to the border ?”, application and Vincent on the group Facebook that unites all of the French international Volunteer programme (VIE) in Canada. “I don’t know what to do, I’m lost,” says his side the French Emilie Guérin journal quebec The Duty. On holiday in france, the young woman, the holder of a permit “working holiday” (WHP), had planned to return to la Belle Province on Thursday. The solution ? Forward his return flight, provided that the last routes flown are not saturated…

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at the same time, the president of the Republic Emmanuel Macron has invited the French living abroad and wishing to return to france to “get closer embassies and consulates”. “We will arrange for those who want it, and where it is needed, the repatriation,” said the head of State in his address to the French on Monday 16 march in the evening. “Given the dynamics of the epidemic, the French, who have their habitual residence outside the european space and who can, are invited, for sanitary reasons, to avoid as much as possible the international travel and to limit their movements in the next 30 days”, has, however, clarified in a message to Jean-Yves Le Drian, the minister of Europe and foreign Affairs.

A web form to communicate with the authorities

In the French community in Canada, one of the most important outside of Europe (there were, in 2019, almost 100 000 persons registered with the Registry of the consular (1)), the questions are legion. To help French expatriates, the Embassy of France in Canada and the Consulate general of France in Montréal propose, on their site, answers to the most frequently asked questions depending on your status (French pass, students, residents).

The Office franco-québécois pour la jeunesse (OFQJ) has also contacted the interns gone in a short stay in the Beautiful Province by providing them a clear message : “If your return date as originally scheduled is close, we recommend that you contact your airline company to know the possibilities and conditions of an early return (…)”. The body indicates also reflect on the “terms and conditions” for trainees whose return date is close “and that would be affected by a lack of resources initially provided for or by the end of a canadian visa”.

For the French holders of a permanent residence, which had planned to relocate to Canada in the coming weeks, as well as for those who have begun the application for permanent residence via Express Entry : the Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada has put online a series of answers to your questions. Be aware that if your application for permanent residence has been approved, but that you can’t make it to Canada before the expiry of your documents, a web form allows you to report your situation and to communicate with the authorities. Additional delays may also be granted to perform certain steps.

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(1) The registration in the Register of French established outside of France is not mandatory, this figure does not take into account the totality of the French presence in Canada