Immigration rules and procedures

The rules governing the intake and processing of applications for a certificat de sélection du Québec pertain to applications submitted by economic immigration candidates (permanent workers, investors, entrepreneurs and self-employed workers).

The rules regarding the maximum number of applications received do not reflect a change in Québec’s immigration. By limiting the number of applications received, the Ministère is able to process a greater number of pending applications and reduce processing times.

Maximum number of applications

Immigration sub-class	Maximum number of applications received	Application intake period
Businesspeople
Investors*	1900**	May 29, 2017 to February 23, 2018
Entrepreneurs	No applications will be received.	April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018
Self-employed workers	No applications will be received.	April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018
Permanent workers***	5000	The intake period will be announced at a later date.

* If you have advanced intermediate knowledge of French demonstrated by a standardized test recognized by the Ministère, your application is not subject to these rules and you can submit your application at any time until March 31, 2018.

** A maximum of 1330 applications from foreign nationals from the People’s Republic of China, including the administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao, will be accepted.

*** You can submit your application at any time if you are in one or the other of the situations specified in the Permanent workers section.

Permanent workers

The use of the Mon projet Québec secure space is now mandatory for anyone submitting an application for a certificat de sélection du Québec (Québec selection certificate) under the Regular Skilled Worker Program.

Maximum number of applications

The maximum number applications for a Certificat de sélection du Québec received under the Regular Skilled Worker Program will be 5000 for the next intake period. We encourage you to regularly consult our site to find out the dates for this period, which will be announced at a later date.

Candidates who can submit an application at any time

Even if the maximum number of applications has been attained, you can submit your application at any time through Mon projet Québec if:

• you have a job offer validated by the Ministère;

or

• you are a temporary resident and entitled to submit an application for a Certificat de sélection au Québec.

Candidates who wish to submit an application under the Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ – Québec experience program) can do so at any time by following the instructions specific to the PEQ.

Priority processing

The following applications will receive priority processing:

• applications submitted under the Programme de l’expérience québéboise (PEQ - Québec experience program);
• applications from candidates who have an employment offer validated by the Ministère;
• applications from candidates who earned points under the factor Area of training.
  

Investors

Maximum number of applications

The maximum number of applications for a Certificat de sélection du Québec received under the Investor Program is 1900 for the period May 29, 2017 to February 23, 2018. Any application received after the attainment of this maximum will be returned to the applicant.

Investor applicants who demonstrate, by means of a test recognized by the Ministère, that they have an advanced intermediate knowledge of French, are not subject to this maximum number of applications and can submit their application at any time. These applications will receive priority processing.

Applications must be sent by mail or courier, to the Direction de l'enregistrement et de l'évaluation comparative, in Montréal. Only one application can be sent at a time. Applications dropped off in person will not be accepted.

Entrepreneurs

Maximum number of applications

No applications for a Certificat de sélection du Québec will be received under the Entrepreneur Program for the period April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018.

Self-employed workers

Maximum number of applications

No applications for a Certificat de sélection du Québec will be received under the Self-Employed Worker Program for the period April 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018.

¹ This notice is a summary of recent changes and all official documents, particularly ministerial orders published in the Gazette officielle du Québec, take precedence over the information contained in this notice.