Hundreds of Montreal students waiting for Quebec to approve eligibility for English schools

Hundreds of students in Montreal are still at home waiting for Quebec to approve their eligibility for English schools and schools are calling for the paperwork to get done.

Even before classes began, the Silva-Michaud family did their homework.

"She's supposed to be in school right now and we are in the dark," said Gabriel Michaud, whose niece, Elisa Silva, came from Brazil to study at the F.A.C.E. school for six months.

She has her visa and school acceptance but needs just needs one more thing.

"I called the school board and they started blaming the government, saying they had not even provided them with the QPC, the [Quebec permanent code] that they need to file for English eligibility.

Her uncle has become her advocate, trying to get her English eligibility certificate.

"But the ministry, through one of their employees, told me 48 hours. That was Friday, last week, and she said they do not have her application on file. They do see a QPC code but don't have the application," he said.

The English Montreal School Board (EMSB) said they have 300 files pending.

"We're not allowed to accept anybody unless they get an English eligibility certificate for which they can qualify under different criteria in the law. But we cannot take anybody until we get that from the ministry," said Joe Ortona, chair of the EMSB.

"What we're seeing now is that Bill 96 is creating extra hurdles for international students."

The Lester B. Pearson School Board said it has also seen some delays in the government processing of some of its eligibility requests.

"The board sent several files during the week of August 8th that we still don’t have decisions for as well as others that were submitted in the last few days. Currently, we have more than 70 such cases," the board said in a statement to CTV News.

Looking for answers, Michaud even went to the English admissibility office on Fullum Street but it was empty.

"To my surprise, there was nobody there. Empty offices, some doors are closed, some are open," he said.

The Ministry of Education said it usually takes five working days to process the request, but that a delay can happen if the file is incomplete.

Meanwhile, Silva received yet another form to fill out to process her request.

"I feel anxious about starting school and I don't know when it's going to start for me. I wanted to make friends," she said.

Late Wednesday afternoon, the EMSB received Silva's certificate of eligibility and she is expected to start class on Friday.