You stated that the overall legislation determines whether an individual satisfies certain conditions.
However, the chair of the committee alluded to the matter of the royal recommendation and costs. The word “may” means “peut“, while “shall“ means “doit“. Sums of money are involved. I understand that there are monetary considerations to weigh.
As I see it, if we go with the word “may“ rather than “shall“, there is less of a will to allocate enough money to this purpose and to allow this type of request. You are taking us in another direction.
I think that choosing between “may“ or “shall“ is a somewhat arbitrary decision for the committee.
It brings into play the matter of the royal recommendation, because of the monetary considerations. That's what we were told earlier.