Immigration rules and procedures

The rules governing the intake and processing of permanent selection applications pertain to applications submitted by economic immigration candidates and the undertaking applications submitted under the Program for Refugees Abroad (Collective Sponsorship).

Note that under the Québec Immigration Act, a permanent immigration pilot program allows for the selection of up to 550 principal applicants per year.

Maximum number of applications

Immigration Program	Maximum number of applications to receive	Application intake period*
Permanent immigration pilot programs
Food processing workers	600	From November 3, 2021 to October 31, 2022
Orderlies	600	From November 3, 2021 to October 31, 2022
Workers in the artificial intelligence (AI), information technologies and visual effects (IT/VE) sectors	600 - AI stream: 300 • Francophone profile: unlimited • Francization profile: 150 - IT/VE stream: 300  • Francophone profile: unlimited • Francization profile: 150 Maximum number of applications reached as of June 30, 2022	From November 3, 2021 to October 31, 2022
Business immigrants
Investor Program	Application intake suspended	November 1, 2019 to April 1, 2023
Entrepreneur Program	25* - Stream 1: 25 Maximum number of applications reached as of March 8, 2022 - Stream 2: Application intake suspended	November 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022   November 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022
Self-employed Worker Program	50* Maximum number of applications reached as of November 23, 2021	November 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022
Humanitarian immigration
Program for Refugees Abroad (Collective sponsorship)	825 for legal persons and groups of 2 to 5 natural persons**	January 18, 2022 to February 16, 2022

* If you have submitted an application in Stream 1 of the Entrepreneur Program or the Self-employed Worker Program, and declare having knowledge of oral French at level 7 or higher of the Échelle québécoise des niveaux de compétence en français des personnes immigrantes adultes, you can submit an application at any time, even if the maximum number of applications to receive has been reached, until December 31, 2022.

** The details regarding the maximum number of applications to receive for each sponsor category are specified in the section Program for Refugees Abroad (Collective sponsorship).

Skilled workers

If you wish to immigrate to Québec under the Regular Skilled Worker Program (RSWP), you can submit an expression of interest through Arrima. Only applicants who have been invited by the minister can submit an application for permanent selection under this program. For the latest information on Arrima and invitations, go to the Arrima section of the MIFI website.

Applicants who wish to submit an application under the de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ - Québec experience program) may do so at any time, on the Arrima plartform, by following the instructions related to the PEQ.

Permanent immigration pilot programs

If you would like to immigrate to Québec under one of the three permanent immigration pilot programs, you must submit your application on the Arrima platform during the application intake period.

• Permanent immigration pilot program for food processing workers
  This pilot program may allow you to settle in Québec permanently if you are a temporary foreign worker in the food processing sector. For more information, consult the program description and the selection conditions.
• Permanent immigration pilot program for orderlies
  This pilot program may allow you to settle in Québec permanently if you are a temporary foreign worker who is working as an orderly in Québec. For more information, consult the program description and the selection conditions.
• Permanent immigration pilot program for workers in the artificial intelligence, information technologies and visual effects sectors
  This pilot program may allow you to settle in Québec permanently if you are a temporary foreign worker or a Québec graduate. For more information, consult the program description and the selection conditions. As of June 30, 2022, the maximum number of applications receivable for candidates in the Francization Profile of the Information Technologies and Visual Effects stream has been reached.
  
  

All applications for permanent selection under these three pilot programs must be completed on the Arrima platform.

Investors

The intake of permanent selection applications under the Investor Program has been suspended from November 1, 2019 to April 1, 2023 in order to allow time for the program to be reviewed.

For more information on selection conditions, visit the Investor Program page.

Entrepreneurs

Stream 1 : The maximum number of permanent selection applications that will be accepted under the Entrepreneur Program is 25 for the period from November 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022. As of March 8, 2022, the maximum number of applications receivable for non-Francophone entrepreneur applicants was reached.

Nonetheless, if you submit an application in Stream 1 of the Entrepreneur Program and declare having knowledge of oral French at level 7 or more of the Échelle québécoise des niveaux de compétence en français des personnes immigrantes adultes, you can submit an application at any time, even if the maximum number of applications to receive has been reached, until December 31, 2022.

Stream 2 : Receipt of applications for permanent selection under Stream 2 of the program is suspended until December 31, 2022. Any application received during this suspension period will be returned to the applicant.

All applications must be sent by courier, with one application per submission, to 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 or sent by regular mail will not be accepted. The envelope in which the application is sent must indicate the program under which the application is submitted.

For more information on selection conditions, visit the Entrepreneur Program, visit the Entrepreneur Program page.

Self-employed workers

The maximum number of permanent selection applications that will be accepted under the Self-Employed Worker Program is 50 for the period from November 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022. As of November 23, 2021, the maximum number of applications receivable for non-Francophone Self-Employed Worker candidates was reached.

Nonetheless, if you submit an application in under the Self-Employed Worker Program and declare having knowledge of oral French at level 7 or more of the Échelle québécoise des niveaux de compétence en français des personnes immigrantes adultes, you can submit an application at any time, even if the maximum number of applications to receive has been reached, until December 31, 2022.

All applications must be sent by courier, with one application per submission, to 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 or sent by regular mail will not be accepted. The envelope in which the application is sent must indicate the program under which the application is submitted.

For more information on selection conditions, visit the Self-employed Worker Program page.

Program for Refugees Abroad (Collective sponsorship)

The maximum number of undertaking applications that can be received under the Program for Refugees Abroad (Collective sponsorship) is set at 825.

Groups of 2 to 5 natural persons and legal persons can submit undertaking applications from January 18, 2022 to February 16, 2022.

The maximum number of undertaking applications to receive from all of the applicants (sponsors) and the maximum number of applications that each sponsor can submit is indicated in the following table.

Table of the maximum number of undertaking applications submitted per sponsor and to receive for all of the applicants (sponsors)

* Every group of 2 to 5 natural persons can send a maximum of 2 applications. Moreover, a person cannot be part of more than one group of 2 to 5 persons sending an application.

** Consult the admissibility conditions for undertaking application on the Program page

All undertaking applications must be submitted electronically via the Arrima platform, with one application per submission.

If the number of admissible applications submitted from all of the applicants (sponsors) is greater than the maximum indicated in the table above, a random draw will determine which ones the minister will receive within the timeframe indicated by her. Each random draw will be conducted under the supervision of an external auditor in the presence of witnesses.

The submission of undertaking applications is a two-step process with undertaking forms and, at each step, supporting documents are required.

To find out about the intake conditions and the admissibility requirements for undertaking applications, and to obtain more information about the program, consult the Program for Refugees Abroad (Collective Sponsorship) page.

To find out about the procedure for submitting an undertaking application, consult the Your procedure page and the Presenting a collective sponsorship application page.