Quebec Residency! I Need Help

[Toothfairy11]

Hello people, I am a grade 12 student who's planning to attend McGill University majoring biomedical sciences.

I have a question regarding attaining Quebec residency/ Canadian citizenship. I am a permanent resident since 2008, and I lived in British Columbia ever since.

I noticed that acceptance rates for med school, scholarship opportunities, and tuition differs by a lot for Quebec Residents from any other residents, and I was curious if there is any way to attain Quebec Residency. I have went over the 14 situations listed by McGill, but I am still confused of how to obtain CSQ, and if I am eligible for it. Also, if I am trying to apply for Canadian citizenship during my school years in Quebec, will the process be any different from applying from BC?

[Exergy]

If you are a permanent resident already, pretty sure you are not eligible for the CSQ. The citizenship process should be the same in Quebec or BC. Now to obtain residency, the "easiest" way would be to either study part time for a year (Situation 6) (not recommended for med schools); or have one of your parents move here (situation 5).

[Toothfairy11]

So if one of my parents move with me, do I automatically get considered as a quebec resident?

And if they leave after I've been considered as a quebec resident, does my residency get revoked?

 

Thanks for the reply mechengdoctor!

[sleeping_sickness]

alternatively, you could complete your degree, stay in Montreal for a year and work full-time. i think you need to have worked for a year prior to submitting your application. with the application deadline moved up to November this will add 2 extra years between finishing UG and starting med if you get accepted the first time. 

[oshaku]

You might want to check if applying for citizenship as a Quebec resident will require competency in French.

 

As soon as your parents are Quebec residents, you can take their documents and claim Quebec resident tuition.

 

In terms of what it takes to be a resident in the provincial sense, practically, you would upon moving to Quebec, give up BC residency, switch to coverage under the Quebec government for all provincial level services like education, health care, and driving. Philosophically, being a resident in any province means you intend to be a permenant part of and form attachmentd to the society of that province. That's why full time university students aren't considered residents, because most intend to go back to their home province/country after graduation.

 

As for losing residency as soon as you move: it depends on your intentions. If your move is temporary and you will be coming back to Quebec, you will not lose residency. Situation 14 talks about that a bit.

 

Also of note: residency requirements are slightly different for the ministry of health (health card), ministry of education (school stuff), and the ministry of transportation (driver's license). So you may be able to get RAMQ card, but not resident rate for tuition (you don't have to worry about it for situation 5).

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[Toothfairy11]

Thank you very much sleeping_sickness, oshaku, and rijn for amazing comments!!

I've noticed that the Quebec government has set many trap doors to keep the benefits to the Quebec people. As a, sadly, English speaking Canadian , it might be challenging to compete for spots against bilingual and tri-lingual students. But I still want to have a shot at it!

Do I have to get all my documents such as care card, drivers license, etc etc switched to that of Quebec in order to become a quebec resident?

 

Again, thank you so much!

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[amoserlie]

I'm not sure what you mean by trap doors. The province invests a lot of money to train new physicians and wants them to stay in Quebec to serve the population here. As do the other provinces that give priority to their own residents. It's clear that if you want to be a doctor in Quebec, you need to learn french. Francophones that attend medical school in Quebec are expected upon graduation to have advanced english language skills. To reiterate what some of the previous posters mentioned, the only university in Quebec where the language of instruction is English is McGill. The definite bonus for you in applying there would be that the MCAT is not required, although I imagine that you might want to take it anyway so you could apply to other universities. Ontario universities don't give priority to Ontario residents, for example. I participated in both the MMI at McGill and the MEM for the francophone universities this year. There was one (I repeat, one) person (OOP applicant) who didn't speak any french at my McGill interview and they were told that they would have to learn but would have plenty of opportunities to do so during their studies. Unlike McGill, the other Quebec universities do not give you the option to choose the language of your interview. French, only. I can attest that it made the interview that much more difficult for me. I did french immersion in Ontario and have lived in Quebec for six years.

[oshaku]

Well, it makes sense for the Quebec government to keep their benefits to the QC residents. The cheaper tuition (and pretty much all educational expenses really) that QC residents pay is possible because it's supplemented by the government and the property owners in the province in the form of school taxes. QC is heavily invested in training their residents and more importantly having the highly trained human talent service the province. It's understandable the schools and residents aren't very happy with OOPs wanting to come only to take advantage of cheap tuition and not give anything back after graduating.

 

Tbh, moving to Quebec only for a higher chance of getting in to McGill med and paying less tuition is not the best in terms of cost-benefit. There are a number of challenges to living in Quebec, especially if you're a total anglophone. The québécois can be quite discriminatory against anglophones (for reasons stated above), and for your parents finding jobs without French can be quite difficult. McGill would be the only need school for which you'll have an "advantage". Even with the large number of seats reserved for QC residents, acceptance rate for IP non-cegep applicants is still around 10%. Compared to a BC resident with a 20-30% acceptance in to UBC med. There will be several years of university before you can apply for medical school and *anything can happen*. GPA for those university years are super important. Several of my highschool classmates gave up on their med school dream after getting < 3.0 in university. Oh and have you heard about our weather????

 

Think well before deciding to move to Quebec. Congratulations on get in to McGill for undergrad!

 

If you have an interest in moving to Quebec, I'd suggest you come and live here for a bit to do your undergrad, and decide if this is the place you want to spend the next 8+ years if you're life!

[oshaku]

Regarding the card stuff: you're required to switch your driver's license to QC within 6 months of being a resident (and give up BC driver's license because you're only allowed to have one valid driver's license at any one time). Not sure about a deadline for RAMQ, but it's the standard proof of residence (soft presssure for switching as soon as possible) and makes accessing health care much smoother. If you get RAMQ, you'll have to end coverage by BC.

[Toothfairy11]

Thank you rijn, amoserlie, and oshaku for your very, very helpful comments!

I now understand that Quebec is trying to keep the money spent by Quebec citizens for Quebec citizens, and the importance of learning French if I plan to attend McGill Med School. I somewhat assumed, but from all the international reputation, I also thought that not speaking French would become such a hassle. And about the weather and how competitive McGill is, yeah, I think so too, but I am still thinking that maybe, just maybe, I can do it! I like McGill because of the beautiful city Montreal, and most of my friends who are attending university are there (they say McGill is not bad if you plan to go to med school.)

Anyways, I will put all those ideas you guys gave me into consideration of choosing a university to finish my UG. 

 

THANK YOU sooo much for sharing your ideas guys!! It's really helpful.

[tapao]

Thanks for a great thread.

 

I am an Ontario resident. I am in a high school Francophone in Ontario. I plan to take undergraduate in Ottawa University in the near future.

 

In case I cannot make it to medical schools in Ontario, I will move to Montreal for work to establish my Quebec residency status [category 6]. Can I use my undergraduate GPA from Ottawa to apply for medical schools in Quebec? I am aiming for the three French medical schools.

 

Please also let me know what would be the challenges. Thanks everyone.

[oshaku]

Can I use my undergraduate GPA from Ottawa to apply for medical schools in Quebec?

I think so. Don't see why not.

[tameimpala]

Thanks for a great thread.

I am an Ontario resident. I am in a high school Francophone in Ontario. I plan to take undergraduate in Ottawa University in the near future.

In case I cannot make it to medical schools in Ontario, I will move to Montreal for work to establish my Quebec residency status [category 6]. Can I use my undergraduate GPA from Ottawa to apply for medical schools in Quebec? I am aiming for the three French medical schools.

Please also let me know what would be the challenges. Thanks everyone.

Yes you can but they use a cote de rendement universitaire to select their students, which is determined in part by the difficulty of your program. Some programs will give you a very low CRU even though you have a perfect 4.0 GPA (and thus you'd have zero chances of being considered), while others are more forgiving. Search on the school websites to have an idea of the programs but off the top of my head I think ULaval has a table of scores available to download.

[cndeh]

This might help you to choose your undergrad program:

 

https://www2.ulaval.ca/admission/decouvrez-les-exigences-dadmission/programmes-contingentes/cote-laval.html

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[tapao]

Wow,the GPA factor really caught me off guard. It looks really tough and complicated.

 

Thanks for your suggestion about going for CEGEP. Can I still after my IB Diploma complete? I would guess there are some overlapped courses between IB and CEGEP, how would the marks be calculated?

 

Even if it works out with the CEGEP path I am still have to go through Cat 6 to increase my chance, right?

 

Thanks.

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[Robin Hood]

For French schools, invite to interview is solely based on your marks. 

They will also count all your university studies if you apply during or after undergrad. If you do poorly in cegep, you will need 50 university credits to wipe out your cegep record.

[dinjan]

Hey everyone!

 

I have a question about Quebec residency. I am a Canadian citizen currently living in Europe. I lived in Montreal for 6 years and left it in 2003. I went to elementary school there.

 

I plan to study in Montreal next year (starting September 2016), so I'm trying to figure out if I could be eligible for Quebec residency tuition. I wasn't born in Quebec but I went to elementary school there, I haven't been there for a long time and never studied there at college/university.

 

So how about the situation 8 - maybe I could move to Quebec few months before Sept 1st and later be eligible for lower tuition? Would this be possible?

 

Thanks!

[Exergy]

Situation 8 won't work. You need to have NEVER resided in Canada for that. Although its odd; if you only lived in Quebec before then intuitively you should be a Quebec resident when you come back but there is no clear "Situation" that you fall into. Your best bet ( think) is have one or both of your parents come with you, maybe a few months before and try Situation 5. 

[oshaku]

you don't qualify as a quebec resident unfortunately. You had quebec residency before, but it is no longer valid.  

 

Just being in quebec for a few months won't be enough. You need to have lived here for a year before starting your studies. Otherwise you can try situation 14 - you were granted residency in the past and have lived in quebec for 3 consecutive years in the past five years - which you can claim 3 years after coming back to mcgill.  Though you'll want to verify that your residency from childhood works.   Best thing for you do to is to contact McGill with your situation and clarify your residency status with them

[Sharik *****]

 

You might want to check if applying for citizenship as a Quebec resident will require competency in French.

 

As soon as your parents are Quebec residents, you can take their documents and claim Quebec resident tuition.

 

In terms of what it takes to be a resident in the provincial sense, practically, you would upon moving to Quebec, give up BC residency, switch to coverage under the Quebec government for all provincial level services like education, health care, and driving. Philosophically, being a resident in any province means you intend to be a permenant part of and form attachmentd to the society of that province. That's why full time university students aren't considered residents, because most intend to go back to their home province/country after graduation.

 

As for losing residency as soon as you move: it depends on your intentions. If your move is temporary and you will be coming back to Quebec, you will not lose residency. Situation 14 talks about that a bit.

 

Also of note: residency requirements are slightly different for the ministry of health (health card), ministry of education (school stuff), and the ministry of transportation (driver's license). So you may be able to get RAMQ card, but not resident rate for tuition (you don't have to worry about it for situation 5).

 

Bonjour ! Je ne suis pas étudiant à Mcgill, mais j'y ai été accepté, donc je pense que ma réfléxion peut toujours t'aider un peu. Premièrement, la moitié des livres de référence (si ce n'est davantage) sont en anglais en médecine aux universités francophones. La science, c'est en anglais. Tu ne verras donc pas beaucoup de différence à ce niveau je pense (surtout à l'UdeM où la grande majorité de l'apprentissage se fait dans les livres). Ensuite, puisque tu viens du cégep, tu auras à faire la Med-P, qui est une année générale qui sert justement à s'adapter aux changements autant universitaire que de langue pour les francophones. Finalement, pour avoir été aux entrevues, il y a énormément de francophones qui vont à Mcgill. De mémoire, les étudiants qui présentaient le programme ont affirmé qu'il y avait plus de francophones que d'anglophones en Med-P.

 

Je te souhaite donc bonne chance dans ton application ! Petit conseil (qui se base sur mon expérience personnelle, donc à prendre avec un grin de sel) Mcgill cherche des gens uniques. Tu dois être différent(e) des autres.

 

Bonjour!! Peux-tu me conseiller? Je suis résident permanent du Québec. Je voudrais étudier médicine(McGill). J'ai la possibilité de commencer un baccalauréat de sciences biomédicales à l'Université de Montréal. Si je pourrai réussir 4/4.2 là, ça c'est possible pour l'admission à McGill?.. je ne comprends pas le GPA de McGill. Ça c'est possible? Merci beaucoup. Je remercierai ton aide!!!

[Bambi]

Bonjour!! Peux-tu me conseiller? Je suis résident permanent du Québec. Je voudrais étudier médicine(McGill). J'ai la possibilité de commencer un baccalauréat de sciences biomédicales à l'Université de Montréal. Si je pourrai réussir 4/4.2 là, ça c'est possible pour l'admission à McGill?.. je ne comprends pas le GPA de McGill. Ça c'est possible? Merci beaucoup. Je remercierai ton aide!!!

 

Sure, provided you have an excellent CV and kill the personal narratives! For McGill, excellence in academics is only part of your overall assessment whereas for the francophone medical schools, academic excellence and the difficulty of your program as judged by the individual medical schools is of importance without reference to your CV or anything else.