Permanent Residence
Skilled Workers
Canada needs foreign workers with future-oriented professional qualifications, particularly in the fields of computer science, engineering, health, environment and mechanization. If you are fluent in English or French, you could be selected in one of the immigration programs offered.
Immigration Canada offers several options through its Express Entry system. However, this system tends to favor candidates with a Canadian degree, Canadian work experience or a validated job offer. Very few places are allocated to candidates living abroad or with no previous Canadian experience since the system operates by invitation only and on the basis of their Canadian employability. Only certain candidates with exceptional profiles who are fluent in both official languages may aspire to immigrate to Canada under the current system.
The Immigration Department of Quebec, which we will call “Immigration Quebec”, operates on the basis of the Canada-Quebec Immigration Agreement of 1991, in which the Canadian government confers on the Province of Quebec the powers of selection of candidates for immigration for their establishment in the Belle Province. The Canadian Government recognizes the special status of this province based on its linguistic and cultural Francophone diversity and acts to “ensure in the province an integration of immigrants respectful of the distinct character of Quebec society”;
Immigration Quebec has therefore developed its own immigration programs taking into consideration the French fact. In the last few years, Immigration Quebec has accumulated impressive delays in processing immigration applications filed under these programs. The result has been the closure of all immigration programs at some point in the last 10 years: skilled workers, self-employed workers, entrepreneurs, investors and refugee sponsoship.
Today, we face quotas in all categories… when they are open! The vice is tightening and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a place in Canada. It is in this context that Immigration Québec has decided to implement a system similar to Immigration Canada’s “Express Entry”, which was introduced and put online in January 2016, to ensure the adequacy between Canada’s labor requirements and selected immigration candidates.
This system controls the number of immigration applications filed while controlling the relevance of the applications studied to meet the actual needs of Canada at a specific point in time.
This new system is called “ARRIMA”, referring to the French term “arrimage” or “matching” between the shortage of workers in certain identified economic sectors in Quebec and the supply of skilled foreign labor. It allows the selection of candidates for immigration under the Quebec Skilled Worker Program.
The Quebec Experience Program, (PEQ)
The Regular Qualified Workers Program (PTQR)
The system will select the best candidates in non-defined intervals according to a complex and changing point system. Selected candidates will then be invited to submit a permanent selection request for a complete study of their profile under another selection grid which is also called to change at the discretion of immigration policies.
The decisive criteria that will be considered in this system are the level of knowledge of Canada’s two official languages and the candidate’s field of education.
As you can see, you need some expertise to navigate this system without wasting time and energy. The members of our Cabinet are always on the lookout for changes in policies and ministerial instructions in order to advise you to the best of their knowledge at any given time.