Significant Changes to Quebec Immigration

“Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”
-Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr

Quebec-City-CICSOn March 28 2018, Quebec has announced significant changes to the Quebec immigration program.

Quebec Revamping their Intake System for Skilled Workers

The Quebec Government has unveiled plans to revamp their intake system for skilled workers and will be modeled similarly to the federal Express Entry system. The new Expression of Interest (Déclaration d’intérêt) system will manage profiles for the Quebec Skilled Worker Program (QSWP) and will replace the previous first-come, first-served application process.

Similar to Express Entry, candidates who are eligible for the QSWP will have to submit anExpression of Interest (Déclaration d’intérêt) as a first step and their profile will be valid for up to 12 months. It is expected that candidates will then receive a different score, similar to the CRS score, and candidates who meet or exceed a specified cut-off score will be invited to apply for a Quebec Selection Certificate (CSQ). They will then have 90 days to submit their complete application.

Major Changes to the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program

The Quebec Immigrant Investor Program (QIIP) is the only passive investment program in Canada offering permanent residence.

The Quebec Government plans on increasing the QIIP investment threshold from $800,000 to $1.2 million and the minimum net worth requirement from $1.6 million to $2 million. All remaining requirements will remain the same.

We expect the walk-away investment will increase from $220,000 to around $350,000.

The Quebec Immigrant Investor Program has been suspended from April 1st to August 15th, 2018 and it is projected that these significant changes will come into effect in August.

More details about these significant changes will be announced in the near future. Please make sure to visit our website for up-to-date information.

New Quebec Immigration Rules Announced

Quebec Immigration, which runs the Quebec Skilled Worker Program (QSWP) and the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program (QIIP), two of Canada’s most popular immigration programs, announced this week that changes will be coming to its immigration rules and procedures (Jenny Poole)

Quebec Immigration, which runs two of the most popular Canadian immigration programs, announced on Wednesday that changes will be coming to its immigration rules and procedures.

The new rules will affect Quebec skilled worker, investor, business people, and self-employed immigrant applicants, and will be instated in stages from August 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014.

The maximum number of applications that will be accepted through the Quebec Skilled Worker Program will be 20,000 for the one year quota period.

Furthermore, the level of French language proficiency a Quebec skilled worker applicant needs to attain to obtain points in the language criteria will be increased, with the Advanced Intermediate proficiency becoming the minimum level that will grant points, which is three levels higher than Low Beginner, the previous minimum point-granting level.

The eligible areas of education and vocational training for the skilled worker program are also being changed, with the new list not as of yet announced.

Investors

The maximum number of Quebec Immigrant Investor Program (QIIP) applications that will be accepted for the one year quota period will be 1,750, with a maximum of 1,200 applications per country.

The application must be received by Quebec Immigration between August 1 and 16, 2013, and can be sent only by regular mail.

The applications will be reviewed by an order determined by a random draw, which will remove any advantage in trying to be the first to have one’s application submitted.

Businesspeople and self-employed workers

500 applications under the businesspeople and self-employment category will be accepted for the one year quota period.

As with the skilled worker category, the advanced intermediate level in French language proficiency will become the new minimum threshold for obtaining language points. The new weighting will affect both principal applicants and their spouses in the Entrepreneur stream, while only affecting principal applicants in the Self-Employed stream.