Amendments to the Regulation respecting the selection of foreign nationals

Amendments to the Regulation respecting the selection of foreign nationals came into force on October 14, 2009.

Pursuant to these amendments, priority is given to processing the applications of candidates whose occupational profile satisfies the needs of the Québec labour market. From now on, the applications of candidates whose field of training or whose spouse’s field of training is included in the List of preferred areas of training will receive priority treatment. The applicant must have obtained his diploma within the five years preceding the application for a Québec Selection Certificate (CSQ) or must have engaged for at least one year during the five years preceding the application for a CSQ in an occupation directly linked to his field of training. 

The new regulation also modifies the selection grid for qualified workers and the selection grids applicable to businesspeople (investors, self-employed workers and entrepreneurs). The amendments allow for the selection of greater numbers of applicants who satisfy the labour market’s priority needs and thus better link the selection to Québec’s needs.

The List of areas of training has also been updated in light, in particular, of employment prospects in Québec in the coming years. The new listcontains a different scoring system for Québec and foreign diplomas. Moreover, Canadian diplomas and diplomas covered by a Mutual Recognition Arrangement with France are now put in the same category as Québec diplomas and are subject to the same scoring system and accorded the same priority treatment, as the case may be.

Applications that the MICC receives before October 14, 2009 will benefit from the most favourable treatment: they will be subject to the selection grid and list of fields of training in force at the time of submission of the application (October 2006 regulation or preceding version) or the October 2009 selection grid and list of fields of training. New applications will be processed pursuant to the new regulation alone.