Hello,

My name is Chad Stronge.

Our neighbours who are also our friends, have found themselves in a problematic immigration situation. They are wonderful, giving members of the community. The following write-up, posted below, was completed by the family. Please read this and consider donating to help with the legal costs associated with the assistance required. The media link below also speaks volumes for their character.

We are retaining the services of Sherritt Greene Immigration law in Calgary with hopes of keeping this family in Canada, where they truly want to be.

https://www.todayinbc.com/business/vernon-walmart-staffer-finds-7k-lost-by-enderby-business-owner-2/

Hi,

For those who don’t know me I live in Calgary with my husband and our 2 kids.

We moved from France to Canada in 2014 with nothing else than a broken English, our unconditional love for Canada, and our hopes for a better and safer future for myself, and our kids.

We have built a new life here for our family and started from scratch. We even started our journey here in Calgary with no furniture and we were eating on the floor. We have learned English by ourselves in order to integrate ourselves in this part of the country.

We opened our own business in 2017 using the only savings we had, but unfortunately we lost it over the pandemic restrictions, along with all the savings we have invested in it.

We can say that I had to flee my native country to escape the tyrannical, abusive and psychologically destructive, controlling environment I have been in since my young age.

I grew up being emotionally, mentally, physically and sexually abused, but also sexually exploited by people who were supposed to protect me.

I never felt safe in France and being a mother I needed to protect myself, and my kids.

We then decided to move to Canada and obtained a temporary work permit.

Here I finally found a place where I can heal emotionally, far from my detractors, far from all the abuses I have suffered from and far from the country that didn’t protect me.

We came in this country hoping that one day we could become permanent residents, and then Canadian Citizens.

We didn’t expect our journey to be that chaotic though.

Since 9 years now we are under a temporary work permit and we need to renew it every couple years because “we fall into the immigration cracks” and cannot qualify for the permanent residency because of a lack of points in the immigration point system.

Our kids are under a visa visitor since then, and now that they are both teens they feel apart from all their friends who, unlike them, have the opportunity to get odd jobs here and there in order to earn money and school credits.

Our current work permit is expiring really soon and turns out that, even though I am currently working, neither my husband or myself qualify to renew it.

Which means that as soon as the work permits will be expired we won’t be able to work anymore, we won’t have a driver’s license anymore nor a SIN number because all of these are linked to a work permit when you’re immigrant.

As for work my husband has been struggling to find a skilled job because employers don’t want to take the risk to employ someone with a work permit expiring soon.

My husband worked as “essential” during the pandemic and applied last year for an immigration program that was supposed to grant permanent residency to any foreign that worked in Canada as essential during the pandemic, but for some reason even that option didn’t work.

We are hitting a wall right now and are desperate with a ticking clock over our heads.

Our kids have spent 9 years of their life here in Canada. That’s almost the only country they know as they were toddlers when we arrived here.

We cannot take the risk to have to leave Canada. For my sanity, and my safety, and my kid’s one.

I am throwing a bottle in the sea here and think that maybe out here someone could help us?!

Even though if it’s not a permanent solution, but a temporary one to help us buy time the time we get ourselves ready to leave the country if it happens that for sure we will never be able to get a permanent residency here… We need time to organize our future. Of course our dream would be to permanently stay here, but if we can’t knowing that we will never go back in our native country or close to it we need to organize ourselves, have a plan and a backup plan.

Maybe there’s someone here that knows someone that could help us resolve this issue with our work permit? Politic, lawyer, journalist, etc? Not an expensive option though as I am the only one working and providing for a family of 4.

Maybe someone who thinks that our story should be heard and written in the newspaper?

Maybe you know someone who’s looking for a skilled business operation manager who would be willing to sponsor my husband knowing that there’s a specific Francophone program that doesn’t require LMIA.

There’s a saying who says “it take a village”…

For those who know us, you know who we are: a good family with a big heart!

It took me a lot to write this, knowing that I unveiled myself in front of you, but right now I am desperate…

I didn’t write this to get some pity but for people to understand that immigration can be unfair sometimes.

For information we already met with members of the provincial and federal government and they told us that we fall into the cracks.

We have contacted our MLA, our MP, and so many more people who were not helpful. They just forward our emails to different institutions/services and the only responses we get every time is a list of immigration programs that we cannot apply to because we fall into the cracks.

We also have already worked with an immigration consultant, and except that it was really expensive it didn’t help.

Thank you for taking the time to read this ❤️

Please send us love as I do believe that love is always the answer to everything.

Love to you all ✨