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Pathway

Canada Quebec Skilled Worker Residence

Canada Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

If you want to settle and work in Quebec, the Programme de sélection des travailleurs qualifiés (PSTQ), or Skilled Worker Selection Program, may fit your experience. Start by submitting a declaration of interest through Arrima, Quebec's online system. Quebec must invite you before you can apply for selection; creating a profile does not guarantee an invitation.

Job or skills fit
Workers whose occupation, experience, French, and profile fit a current stream of Quebec's Skilled Worker Selection Program
Requirements
An invitation and selection by Quebec, followed by the federal permanent-residence review
Age and settlement
At least 18, planning to settle and work in Quebec, with a commitment to support yourself for the first three months

Summary

Quebec runs its own skilled-worker selection independent of federal Express Entry. PSTQ candidates must first submit an expression of interest in Arrima and usually need strong French to be invited.

The program covers eligible workers already in Quebec or abroad. It replaced the former Regular Skilled Worker Program for new expressions of interest. Quebec has been issuing invitations during 2026 using the criteria for each stream and, where applicable, a selection score.

Quebec selection and permanent residence are separate
  1. Find the right program stream Check your occupation, whether it requires a license, and the relevant experience, education, and French rules.
  2. Submit your interest through Arrima Keep your online profile accurate and wait for an invitation from Quebec.
  3. Apply for Quebec selection If invited Prove the information in your profile. If approved, you receive a Quebec Selection Certificate.
  4. Apply for permanent residence Complete the separate federal application as a worker selected by Quebec.

Submitting interest is not a selection application. A Quebec Selection Certificate does not give work permission or permanent residence. This program is separate from Express Entry and provincial nomination.

Could this pathway work for you?

Eligibility

All four streams require you to:

You and accompanying family members age 18 or older must also complete the Quebec-values requirement and obtain the document confirming completion.

The job cannot be with a company you legally or effectively control. Certain activities, including payday lending and specified sex-industry businesses, are excluded.

Quebec uses your main occupation and its National Occupational Classification (NOC) category to identify the stream. The categories group jobs by training, education, experience, and responsibilities. They are called TEER in English and FEER in French.

Stream 1: Highly qualified and specialized skills

This generally covers occupations that do not require professional regulation at TEER 0, 1, or 2. You need:

An accompanying spouse needs spoken French at level 4.

Stream 2: Intermediate and manual skills

This generally covers occupations that do not require professional regulation at TEER 3, 4, or 5. You need:

An accompanying spouse needs spoken French at level 4.

Stream 3: Regulated professions

Your occupation must be on Quebec's regulated-professions list. You need permission to practice or proof that the Quebec regulator has partly or fully recognized your training or diploma. That proof must be no more than five years old when you apply. A receipt saying the regulator received your file is not recognition.

The French requirements depend on the occupation:

Quebec generally recommends waiting for an invitation before starting the regulator's assessment. Once invited, you have one year to obtain the required recognition evidence.

Stream 4: Exceptional talent

You need exceptional expertise, a proven record, and at least three years working in your main occupation during the previous five years. You must also have an achievement on Quebec's official list or a positive opinion from an approved partner in a targeted economic, research, arts, or sports field.

The full rules for diplomas, internships, experience, occupations, and language include specific definitions and exceptions. Check those for your stream before applying.

What This Route Allows

An invited candidate who passes Quebec's assessment receives a Quebec Selection Certificate, officially called the Certificat de sélection du Québec (CSQ). The CSQ permits the person to apply to IRCC as a Quebec-selected skilled worker.

If IRCC approves the federal permanent-residence application, the applicant and eligible accompanying family members become Canadian permanent residents and can settle in Quebec.

What This Route Is Not

A declaration of interest is not a permanent-selection application, and a CSQ is not permanent residence or a work permit. The person must first be invited, then satisfy Quebec, and then complete the federal application.

There is no single fixed invitation score that guarantees selection. Quebec can change criteria, target particular occupations or regions, and set a minimum score for a particular exercise. The published 2026 invitation results describe past rounds, not a promise about the next one.

This is not Express Entry or a provincial nominee program. Quebec selects the applicant, while IRCC makes the final permanent-residence and admissibility decision.

Next Steps

  1. Find the five-digit NOC for the work you genuinely plan to perform in Quebec. Use Quebec's occupation tool to identify the correct PSTQ stream and check whether the job is regulated or has a Quebec-diploma or status requirement.
  2. Compare the profile with every current requirement for that stream, including experience dates, diploma length, French level, spouse language and any regulatory recognition.
  3. Take an accepted French test or obtain another form of proof Quebec recognizes. Do not convert language scores informally; use Quebec's official scale and accepted-document table.
  4. Submit a truthful declaration of interest in Arrima. Keep the main occupation, work, education, language, family and Quebec-connection information current.
  5. Review the current invitation criteria and the 2026 invitation decisions. An invitation is tied to the occupation and facts in the declaration; if the intended main occupation changes, Quebec says to decline and update the profile.
  6. If invited, submit the permanent-selection application by the invitation deadline, sign the financial self-sufficiency contract, complete the values attestation and provide the required supporting documents.
  7. For Stream 3, obtain the regulator document within the time Quebec permits. Do not confuse partial or full recognition with a license that already authorizes practice.
  8. After receiving the CSQ, submit the separate federal permanent-residence application and complete IRCC's identity, family, police, medical, security and other requirements. Maintain temporary status separately if already in Canada.

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Sources