Immigration to Quebec

Under the Canada-Quebec Accord on Immigration, Quebec establishes its own immigration requirements and selects immigrants who will adapt well to living in Quebec. 

If you want to go to Quebec, you must first follow a separate selection process and receive Quebec Selection Certificate before your application is finalized by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Like the federal process, there are four main categories for permanent immigration to Quebec that can be summarized as follows:

Quebec Skilled Workers/ Professionals:

Skilled Workers and Professionals are assessed upon a series of factors, i.e. a point system, which is designed to indicate the likelihood of becoming economically established in Quebec. 

Quebec Skilled Worker / Professional applicants intending to reside in Montreal or another city in the Province of Quebec are selected based upon a different set of criteria than applicants who wish to settle elsewhere in Canada. Applicants who are successful under the Quebec Immigration selection system are issued a Quebec Selection Certificate.

To qualify for a Quebec Selection Certificate, Skilled Worker / Professional applicants must score enough points under the Quebec Immigration selection system below. A single applicant must score at least 49 points based on the criteria below. An applicant with a spouse or common-law/conjugal partner must score at least 57 points. Up to an additional 6 points may be awarded upon the interview for Adaptability. With these points awarded, a single applicant must score a minimum of 55 points. An applicant with a spouse or common-law/conjugal partner must score at least 63 points.

The Quebec Immigration selection factors may be summarized as follows:

 

Selection Factor                                  Points

 

Training                                       Maximum 28 points

Experience                                   Maximum 8 points

Age                                             Maximum 16 points

Language Proficiency                     Maximum 22 points

Stay and family in Quebec              Maximum 8 points

Spouse's Characteristics                Maximum 16 points

Validated Employment Offer            Maximum 10 points

Employability Pass mark for single applicants         42

Employability Pass mark for married applicants      50

Children                                       Maximum 8 points

Financial Self-Sufficiency               Maximum 1 point

Preliminary Pass mark for single applicants            49

Preliminary Pass mark for married applicants         57

Adaptability                                  Maximum 6 points

Pass mark for single applicants                     55 points

Pass mark for married applicants                  63 points

 

After being accepted and receiving the Certificate of Selection of Quebec (CSQ), Quebec Skilled Worker applicants must then successfully complete medical and security examinations conducted by the Canadian federal government in order to be granted a Canada Permanent Resident Visa.

Quebec Skilled Workers are not assessed based upon the selection factors of the Federal Skilled Worker Program. Citizenship and Immigration Canada acknowledges the selection of applicants who meet Quebec immigration selection criteria.

Quebec Business Immigrants:

Investors, Entrepreneurs and Self-Employed Persons are, in a general sense, selected based upon their abilities to make a contribution to economy of Quebec and support the development of a strong and prosperous economy in the province.

The Quebec Business Immigration Program seeks to attract experienced business people to the province of Quebec, who are being selected based upon a different set of criteria than applicants who wish to settle elsewhere in Canada. Applicants who are successful under the Quebec Immigration selection system are issued a Quebec Selection Certificate. After being accepted and receiving the Certificate of Selection of Quebec (CSQ), Quebec Skilled Worker applicants must then successfully complete medical and security examinations conducted by the Canadian federal government in order to be granted a Canada Permanent Resident Visa.

If you have business/managerial experience and relatively high net-worth, you may apply for a Canada Permanent Resident Visa under one of the following sub-categories of Quebec Business Class Immigration Program:

• Quebec Immigrant Investor Program: To qualify as an investor, you must have a net worth of at least CAD$1,600,000, have managerial experience and be willing to make a secured passive investment of CAD$800,000.
• Quebec Entrepreneur Program: To qualify as an entrepreneur, you must have a net worth of at least CAD$300,000 and be willing and able to establish, invest in or acquire a business in Quebec which will create or maintain employment in Quebec.
• Quebec Self-Employed Persons Program: To qualify as a self-employed person, you must have a net worth of at least CAD$100,000 and must have work experience in the profession or trade that you intend to practice in Quebec.

 

Quebec Family Class:

In certain circumstances, Canadian citizens and permanent residents who reside in Quebec are entitled to sponsor their close relatives from abroad.

To be eligible for Quebec Family Class Sponsorship, individuals who wish to immigrate to Canada must have a close relative willing to sponsor them and that relative must either be a Canadian citizen or a Canadian Permanent Resident who reside in the province of Quebec.

The process to sponsor your family begins when you, as a citizen or permanent resident in Canada, apply to be a sponsor. Both you, as the sponsor, and your relative must meet certain requirements, similar to Federal sponsorship. Quebec residents sponsoring a relative, must submit sponsorship application to the government of Canada (Case Processong Center) first. If you are found eligible to sponsor, you must submit an undertaking application including an application by the sponsored person for Quebec Selection Certificate (CSQ) to the government of Quebec.

If you sponsor a relative to come to Canada as a permanent resident, you are responsible for supporting your relative financially when he or she arrives. As a sponsor, you must make sure your spouse or relative does not need to seek financial assistance from the government.

Similar to Federal Sponsorship, there are two different processes for sponsoring your family to Quebec. One process is used for sponsoring your spouse, conjugal or common-law partner and/or dependent children. Another process is used to sponsor other eligible relatives:

• Sponsoring a spouse, partner or dependent child
• Sponsoring other eligible relatives

Sponsoring a spouse, partner or dependent child

Your spouse, common-law or conjugal partner, or dependent children (including children adopted by you prior to settling in Quebec) may be eligible to immigrate to Canada as permanent residents.

You can sponsor a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner, or dependent children if you are a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident of Canada who lives in Quebec. To be a sponsor, you must be 18 years of age or older.

You can apply as a sponsor if your spouse, common-law or conjugal partner, or accompanying dependent children live with you in Quebec, even if they do not have legal status in Canada. However, all the other requirements must be met.

You can also apply as a sponsor if your spouse, common-law or conjugal partner, or dependent children live outside Canada, and if they meet all the requirements.

When you sponsor a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner, or dependent children to become permanent residents of Canada, you must demonstrate that you have the ability to support them. However you don't need to demonstrate a level of income that meets the minimum necessary income for a given family size, as is the case for sponsoring other relatives. Also if the dependent child you are sponsoring has a child of his or her own, you must satisfy the same financial requirements.

To be a sponsor:

• You and the sponsored relative must sign a sponsorship agreement that commits you to provide financial support for your relative, if necessary. This agreement also says the person becoming a permanent resident will make every effort to support her or himself.
• You must provide financial support for a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner for three years from the date they become a permanent resident.
• You must provide financial support for a dependent child for 10 years, or until the child turns 25, whichever comes first.

You may not be eligible to be a sponsor if you:

• failed to provide financial support you agreed to when you signed a sponsorship agreement to sponsor another relative in the past
• defaulted on a court-ordered support order, such as alimony or child support
• received government financial assistance for reasons other than a disability
• were convicted of a violent criminal offence, any offence against a relative or any sexual offence—depending on circumstances such as the nature of the offence, how long ago it occurred and whether a pardon was issued
• defaulted on an immigration loan—late or missed payments
• are in prison
• have declared bankruptcy and have not been released from it yet or
• have previously sponsored relatives who later turned to the government for financial assistance, you may not be allowed to sponsor another person.

Other factors not included in this list might also make you ineligible to sponsor a relative.

Sponsoring other eligible relatives

You can be the sponsor if you are a citizen or permanent resident of Canada and if you are 18 years of age or older and reside physically in Quebec and you can sponsor:

• parents
• grandparents
• brothers or sisters, nephews or nieces, granddaughters or grandsons who are orphaned, under 18 years of age and not married or in a common-law relationship
• children under age 18 to be adopted in Canada;

You may not be eligible to sponsor a relative if you:

• failed to provide the financial support you agreed to when you signed a sponsorship agreement to sponsor another relative in the past
• defaulted on a court-ordered support order, such as alimony or child support
• received government financial assistance for reasons other than a disability
• were convicted of a violent criminal offence, any offence against a relative or any sexual offence—depending on circumstances, such as the nature of the offence, how long ago it occurred and whether a pardon was issued
• defaulted on an immigration loan—late or missed payments
• are in prison
• have declared bankruptcy and have not been released from it yet or
• have previously sponsored relatives who later turned to the government for financial assistance, you may not be allowed to sponsor another person.

Other factors not mentioned in this list might also make you ineligible to sponsor a relative.

When you sponsor a relative to become a permanent resident of Canada, you must promise to support that person and their dependants financially. Therefore, you have to meet certain income requirements or minimum necessary income for a given family size.

To be a sponsor:

• You and the sponsored relative must sign a sponsorship agreement that commits you to provide financial support for your relative if necessary. This agreement also states that the person becoming a permanent resident will make every effort to support themselves. Dependent children under age 22 do not have to sign this agreement. Quebec residents must sign an “undertaking” with the province of Quebec—a contract binding the sponsorship.
• You must promise to provide financial support for the relative and any other eligible relatives accompanying them for a period of three to ten years, depending on their age and relationship to you. This time period begins on the date they become a permanent resident.

 

Quebec Experience Class:

Temporary foreign workers in Quebec or foreign students, who graduated in the province, often have the qualities to make a successful transition from temporary to permanent residence.

If you are a temporary foreign worker or a foreign student who graduated in the province of Quebec, you often have the qualities to make a successful transition from temporary to permanent residence.

Similar to the Canadian Experience Class (Federal Program), Temporary foreign workers and international students in Quebec are ideal candidates for immigration (Permanent Residency). If you have obtained a Quebec education and/or work experience, you have already settled into the society of the province.

There are two types of applicant that can apply for Canadian permanent residency under Quebec Experience Class (PEQ):

• PEQ - Temporary Foreign Workers

This program applies to you if you are currently employed, if you have held a skilled job in Québec for at least 12 of the last 24 months and if you have acknowledge of spoken French.

Here are the conditions that you must satisfy as a temporary worker to obtain a Quebec selections certificate (CSQ) under the Quebec experience program.

At the time of submitting your application, you must:

•  
  • be at least 18 years old;
  • be present in Quebec as a temporary worker or in the framework of a youth exchange program and hold legal status as a temporary resident;
  • hold a paid full-time job in an occupation classified higher than level "C" under National Occupational Classification (NOC) and have held one or more jobs of the same nature for at least 12 of the past 24 months;
  • have conformed to the conditions of applicable stays as temporary worker;
  • have an intermediate level knowledge of oral French;

undertake to provide for your needs and, where applicable, those of your spouse or de facto spouse and dependent children included in your application, for a minimum period of three months from the date you obtain your permanent resident status.