Immigrate to Canada by working… as a volunteer at the National Bank Open? The idea may seem ambitious, but a YouTuber from the Arab world is circulating it, with the result that the tennis tournament has had to suspend the recruitment of volunteers, buried in requests.

A moment. What ?

The story begins two weeks ago. The external company that manages the registration forms for National Bank Open volunteers warns the tournament: an abnormal number of requests are coming from the Middle East. “We immediately suspected a cyberattack, so the form was deactivated,” says Valérie Tétreault, director of the National Bank Open. But by examining the requests, we saw that all the fields were well filled in, so if it was a cyberattack, it was done thanks to artificial intelligence. »

Really ? A cyberattack against a tennis tournament? We no longer have the pirates we had!

Rest assured, it wasn’t a cyberattack after all. A few days ago, the tournament organizers received a link to a YouTube video titled: “Immigrate to Canada, you and your family, without any conditions, through work at the Toronto tennis tournament”.

The fifteen-minute video is essentially a tutorial showing how to register as a volunteer for the tournament, which is presented in Montreal and Toronto. The narrator also implies that few Canadians volunteer because it is unpaid work. He specifies that the trip is at the expense of the volunteer, but that it is a good way to work in Canada for someone who has no training or experience, and who speaks neither French nor English. However, the author of the video, identified as Ahmed M7AMY7O, has 590,000 subscribers, and at the time of this writing, the video had been viewed more than 44,000 times.

Does our youtubeur hold a vein? Can the National Bank Open really serve as a gateway for someone wishing to settle in Canada?

Not so fast, reminds M^e Patrice Brunet, lawyer specializing in business immigration and sports law. “If the National Bank Open sends the candidate an invitation letter, it can go into the visa application file. But the chances of it tipping the scales are very low. M^e Brunet reminds that Immigration Canada looks at several criteria.

“First, the attachment to the country of origin. Do you have a wife, children, a house, a job? It also takes a reasonable reason to come to the country, which is very subjective. Volunteer work might tick that box, but it doesn’t have to come from left field. If the candidate has no connection with tennis, it may seem abnormal. Finally, the agent must be satisfied that the person will then return to their country. Knowing this, Valérie Tétreault indicated that when the form is put back online, a warning will be added warning applicants that registration does not guarantee them a visa.

Obviously, the author follows the Canadian news well and smelled the labor shortage! Is recruiting volunteers so problematic?

“Last year was the first year where it was a little more difficult, due to the pandemic, explains M^me Tetreault. When we started recruiting [de 2022], the pandemic was still in the news, and several volunteers are retired and may fear COVID-19. But this year, before this incident, we were back to the pre-pandemic rhythm. Year after year, “between 1,300 and 1,400 volunteers” in each city are recruited for the two simultaneous tournaments. Of the lot, M.^me Tétreault estimates that there are about five volunteers who come from outside of Canada. “We are talking about isolated cases. These people will always be able to write to our email address, ”she says.

We have already seen youtubers leave for the South “like Ostrogoths” – to use the words of Justin Trudeau –, but producing erroneous videos on immigration must be a first, right?

Good question, we haven’t done extensive research on this. What is strange, on the other hand, is that the video does not encourage clicking on a link of dubious origin. The author is also not asking for money in order to help fill out the form. In short, nothing indicates that we are dealing with fraudulent activity.

“He may be looking for more monetization on YouTube, based on the number of views,” suggests M^e Brunett. At the end of the video, the author also invites Internet users to click on “Like” if they enjoyed the video. “But it shows how popular the immigration program in Canada is,” concludes the lawyer. At the National Bank Open, we hope to submit the form online “next week,” says Valérie Tétreault. In the meantime, requests can be sent by email.

The Press would like to thank Mr.^my Thérèse Karam and Anne-Marie T. for helping to translate the video.