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FIRST READING: Canada threatens native English speaker with deportation for not speaking English

58-year-old Scottish midwife Heather Gilchrist speaks English perfectly. But an automated glitch disagrees

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FIRST READING: Canada threatens native English speaker with deportation for not speaking English Back to video

Just as Canada’s immigration system is wracked by revelations of unchecked fraud, it seems to have found time to threaten a Scottish midwife with deportation on the grounds she didn’t sufficiently prove she can speak English.

Heather Gilchrist, 58, speaks English as her mother tongue, and even completed the mandatory $330 certification course to prove as much.

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But she told the National Post a technical glitch prevented the certification from reaching immigration authorities, resulting in the surprise withdrawal of her work permit earlier this month.

A March 14 letter from an IRCC case officer told her they weren’t satisfied she could speak English, that her legal status had been withdrawn, and that she had 90 days to leave the country.

“If you do not leave Canada voluntarily, enforcement action may be taken against you,” it reads.

“I had just literally come off an on-call shift,” said Gilchrist, who has been working as a registered midwife in Victoria, B.C., since........

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