One of the main immigration pathways available to those wishing to settle in Quebec is the Skilled Worker Selection Program (SWSP)—In French the Programme de sélection des travailleurs qualifiés (PSTQ). Similarly to the Express Entry system, foreign nationals are invited to express their interest in immigrating to Canada and in this case, specifically living in the province of Quebec. Candidates can declare their interest in Arrima, which is the Ministere de l’immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI) system for selecting foreign nationals from a pool of candidates, and issuing invitations to apply for permanent residency.

There are four main streams of expression of interest and then ap make up the SWSP Program – they are:

1) Highly qualified and specialized skills stream 

2) Intermediate and manual skills stream 

3) Regulated Profession stream 

4) Exceptional talent stream

Highly qualified and specialized skills stream 

This stream invites candidates that fall into the National Occupation Classification (NOC) TEER 0, 1 or 2. Must have 1 year of work experience in your profession, either in Quebec or abroad, and have French Language score of NCLC 7 or above. The education requirement for this category is at least a 1 year diploma program, as these occupations are considered high wage occupations and generally require studies.

Intermediate and manual skills stream 

This stream invites candidates that fall into the National Occupation Classification (NOC) TEER 3, 4 or 5. Must have 2 years of paid work experience, within the last 5 years, with at least 1 year of work experience obtained in Quebec. Experience outside of Quebec or abroad only counts if it is in the same TEER category as the experience obtained in Quebec. Must have French language NCLC level 5 or above. For education you must have a qualifying diploma or more in the TEER that you intend to work.

Regulated Profession stream

This stream is intended only for candidates who are listed on the list of Regulated Professions maintained by the Quebec Ministère de d’immigration. They must be authorized to practice their profession in Quebec. There is no education requirement or language requirement for this stream, as qualifications vary across the occupational categories. TEER 0,1,or 2 occupations require NCLC level 7 and TEER 3,4 and 5 require NCLC level 5 in french language. Must show proof that the candidate holds the following document within the last 5 years – An authorization to practice in Quebec or proof of partial recognition of training or a diploma or proof of full recognition of training or a diploma.

Exceptional Talent 

Similar to the Federal Self-employed category, Quebec encourages highly talented people in the sciences, arts or sport to apply to settle in Quebec. Must have 3 years of work experience in their area of talent. There are no education or language requirements for this stream. Must be an expert, or have high accomplishments and achievements per Quebec standards or as endorsed by an opinion obtained from one of the Minister’s designated partners in economic, research, sports or arts categories of interest.