Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

The Quebec Immigrant Investor Program, one of the most popular investor immigration programs globally, reopened for new applications this week. This Canadian immigration option allows qualified immigrant investors and their dependent family members the opportunity to obtain Canadian permanent residence by investing CAD$800,000 risk-free through an approved financial intermediary.

Pursuant to sanctions imposed against Iran by the Government of Canada, Quebec Immigration announced that as of November 21, 2011 they will no longer accept applications under the Immigrant Investor Program from Iranians in Iran. Applications received after November 21, 2011 will be returned to the applicant. Applications received prior to November 21, 2011 will not be affected and should be processed as usual. Quebec Immigration however has not stated whether they will accept applications from Iranians living outside Iran.

The following important points should be noted as now being confirmed by the authorities:

Quebec Immigration recently announced that it intends to cap the intake of new applications in the Immigrant Investor, Self-Employed Worker and Entrepreneur programs in an attempt to reduce processing times. The Skilled Worker program will also be divided into two groups, one of which will have a cap. The decision is still pending approval by the National Assembly of Quebec and would be retroactive from March 21, 2012. The proposed caps are as follows:

One of Quebec immigration officers was charged with cheating the government and mistreatment of confidence, on allegations he requested large sums of money to speed immigration cases.

According to the latest announcement by the Quebec Immigration authorities , a maximum cap of 6300 applications will be accepted from eligible applicants under the Quebec skilled worker program , which is due to reopen later this year . Last year's cap was 6500 which was completed within 4 months .

The Quebec Immigrant Investor Program is now open to new applications.
Quebec is accepting a total of 1,900 applications in this new intake period, which runs until March 15, 2019.

The province of Quebec is considering public consultation by the end of January prior to apply any changes to its immigration policies.

Kathleen Weil, Quebec immigration minister, announced the granting of additional 4 million loans in 2016-2017, to increase and expand the offer of services in French language to immigrants, and $ 700,000 for measures to promote the withholding of international students in Quebec. These additional funds are part of an investment of $ 18.4 million for the next five years to encourage the rapid integration of immigrants in the labor market and Quebec civilization.

Quebec immigration candidates who wish to settle outside Montreal will get more points in the new scoring system.

Although it has not officially announced but rumor has it that the Investor program of Quebec province will reopen and accept limited applications as of August 01.2013. Due to the fact that the program has been closed for more than a year therefore the reopening is eagerly anticipated. We will provide more detailed information on parameters of the investment, new application fees and quotas to all shortly.

The Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Diversité et de l'Inclusion (MIDI) has announced that the intake dates for Quebec Investor applications will extend from January 5, 2015 to January 30, 2015. A maximum of 1750 applications will be accepted. Of which, a maximum of 1200 applications from the People's Republic of China will be accepted. However, candidates who have an advanced intermediate knowledge of French are not subject to the cap and may submit an application at any time.

Quebec investor program will be open as of August 1st, 2013

Earlier today, by way of ministerial decree, Quebec’s Minister of Immigration, Francisation et Integration, announced that the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program (QIIP) will continue to remain on hold. The QIIP has been on hold for close to a year and half, as the Province conducts a review of the program, and works on modifications and improvements. While the announcement made today allows for the program to be on hold until March 31 2023, we believe that the Province will publish regulatory updates for the QIIP well in advance of this date.

Quebec issued invitations to apply for selection under the Regular Skilled Worker Program to 233 immigration candidates through Arrima selection system.

A total of 305 candidates for Quebec immigration have been invited over two Arrima draws in December.

Quebec has invited 444 foreign workers to apply for a Quebec Selection Certificate in a draw held August 19.

The suggestion (Law 77) came into effect April 16, 2016. The new system aims to respond better to Quebec's ongoing labour market needs by adopting an Expression of Interest (EOI) model; the government can assemble a bank of candidates best suited to Quebec’s needs. Candidates are then be invited to apply for immigration on a priority basis.

Quebec has fallen even further behind the rest of Canada in attracting immigrants, as the province’s government kept its promise to cut immigration by 21 per cent in 2019.

Quebec employment rates have been on an upswing over the past three months, and in February, about 66,000 people got jobs in the province.
As a result of these gains, Quebec saw a historically low unemployment rate of 4.5 per cent last month. This is the lowest since comparable Statistics Canada data became available in 1976.