Quebec Experience Program

Quebec is sticking to its plan to bring around 51,000 new immigrants to the province in 2017. Quebec's Immigration Minister, Kathleen Weil, confirmed the figure this week, while also providing details on a plan to provide an additional $31 million to French language-training programs for newcomers. Total government spending in that area will now be $168 million a year.

On March 17, 2016 federal government announced a new immigration program to attract skilled francophone workers to Canada and encouraging them to settle in communities outside of Quebec that will launch on the first day of June.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has updated the conditions for issuing study permit to a student who is required to complete a prerequisite program before he or she begins a second program in a Designated educational institution .

The Ministère is temporarily suspending the intake of permanent ‎immigration applications under the Québec Graduates stream of the ‎Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ - Québec experience ‎program).

In compliance with terms of a judgement rendered by the Superior Court on June 19, 2019, the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Diversitté; et de l’Inclusion distributes the following notice:
QUEBEC REGULAR SKILLED WORKER IMMIGRATION PROGRAM –
CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT
NOTICE OF SETTLEMENT APPROVAL

This notice is intended for persons who filed an application with the Québec Minister of Immigration, Diversity and Inclusion for a Québec Selection Certificate (“CSQ”) in the Regular Skilled Worker programme and who fulfill the following conditions:
Group 1: Individuals whose CSQ Applications were filed between February 1st, 2012 and May 31, 2013; whose CSQ Application contained an immigration form A-1520-AA or A-1520-AF indicating that their CSQ application would be processed in accordance with the regulations in force at the time of filing with the MIDI or the language "Your application for a selection certificate will be processed based on the regulations in effect when it was submitted”; and whose CSQ Application was refused subsequent to the entry into force of the selection grid on August 1st, 2013.

Group 2: Individuals whose application for a CSQ was filed before February 1st, 2012 or between June 1st, 2013 and July 7th, 2013; and whose CSQ application was refused subsequent to the entry into force of the selection grid on August 1st, 2013.

Group 3: Individuals whose application for a CSQ was filed between July 8th, 2013 and March 8th, 2017; and whose CSQ application was refused subsequent to the entry into force of the selection grid on March 8th, 2017.

On February 19, 2018, the Superior Court of Québec (the “Court”) authorized a class action against the Minister of Immigration, Diversity and Inclusion (the “Minister”) and the Government of Québec (collectively, the “Defendants”).


A Settlement Agreement has been reached between the Plaintiffs and the Defendants. The Settlement Agreement is not an admission of liability on the part of the Defendants.
Pursuant to the Settlement Agreement, each Eligible Class Member (defined above) is entitled to receive compensation as follows:
Group 1: 50% of the fees paid by a member of group 1 to submit his or her CSQ Application;

Group 2: 25% of the fees paid by a member of group 2 to submit his or her CSQ Application; and

Group 3: 25% of the fees paid by a member of group 3 to submit his or her CSQ Application.

Membership in the Class was closed on June 19, 2019. This means that if your application was refused after this date, you are not a member of the Class and are not bound by the terms of the Settlement Agreement.
On June 19, 2019, the Superior Court of Québec rendered a judgment approving the Settlement Agreement (the “Judgment”).

If you are a Class Member, you are bound by the terms of the Settlement Agreement. Only Eligible Class Members will receive compensation pursuant to the Settlement Agreement.
In order to receive compensation, you have until October 17, 2019 to fill out the form Individual claim form pertaining to class action settlement 500-06-000669-193 which is available at the following website:
https://arrima.immigration-quebec.gouv.qc.ca/action-collective

You can also send the form by mail to:
Direction de l'enregistrement et de l'évaluation comparative
Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Diversité et de l’Inclusion
285, rue Notre-Dame Ouest, 4e étage
Montréal, Québec H2Y 1T8
Canada
If you choose to submit your claim by regular mail, it must be postmarked by October 17, 2019 in order to be processed.

If you do not submit the form through the website or by regular mail by this deadline, you will not receive any compensation from the MIDI.
The complete versions of the Settlement Agreement and the Applications for Approval can be found at www.imk.ca.

A recent report from the Institute de la statistique du Québec says that more Quebecers are leaving to live in other provinces. In 2012, 8,700 Quebecers left to live in another province. In 2013, that number increased to 13,100 people. Most people are leaving to live in Ontario (7,100) and Alberta (4,700). The losses experienced in 2013 were the most significant since 1998.

Nursing profession is in High Demand throughout Canada

The Masters Graduate Stream of the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program reached its intake limit in less than an hour in the most recent intake period on April 5, 2018.

You want to apply for Immigration to Canada, but:

Immigrants who gain permanent residence through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) fare better in the labour market than those who immigrate through the Foreign Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) and the Quebec Skilled Worker Program (QSWP).

Montreal, June 17, 2020 - Acfas believes that the new version of the reform of the Quebec Experience Program (PEQ) presented on May 28 by the Minister of Immigration, Francization and Integration, Simon Jolin-Barrette, includes improvements compared to the project tabled last fall, including the removal of the list of specific areas eligible for obtaining a work permit. Several points are problematic, however, including the grandfather clause promised in the fall and the work experience that will now be required of students.

Canada has an aging population, with a longer life expectancy and a relatively low birth rate. Accordingly, the country needs immigration to grow the population and economy, Regarding Canada's Citizenship and Immigration Policy, the new government -- led by Justin Trudeau -- has pledged to make family reunification a core priority, welcome new immigrants as a key strategy to job creation and long-term economic growth for the middle class, and place emphasis on humanitarian aid and assistance to refugees to demonstrate fairness and compassion.

The leaders of Canada’s provinces and territories have agreed to reach a target of 5% francophone (i.e. French-speaking) immigration outside the province of Quebec. This target follows the objective of the federal government that, by 2018, francophone newcomers will represent at least 4% of all economic immigrants who settle outside Quebec.

Majority of Quebec new immigrants will arrive through economic immigration programs, including Quebec Skilled Worker Program
Quebec could admit up to 42,000 new permanent residents and issue as many as 24,800 selection certificates in the New Year, the province says in its new immigration plan for 2019.  

Quebec's immigration minister says province will continue processing applications until Bill 9 is passed into law

Quebec has released its Immigration Plan for 2018, with strategies in place to continue welcoming a wide range of skilled workers, businesspeople, family members of Quebec residents, and refugees.

Quebec Facilitated IT program came to an end on February 24th; the 7 affected professions are now part of a newly announced facilitated labour market assessment process.

The Canadian provinces of Quebec and Saskatchewan both revealed changes to the business streams of their immigration programs in recent weeks.

This week the Quebec Provincial Government announced its immigration objectives for 2015. This will mark the final stage of the 2012-2015 immigration plan. The government aims to issue between 37,500 and 43,000 selection certificates in 2015. The breakdown of which is as follows:

Immigration levels to Quebec could reach 52,500 in 2022 under new proposals introduced by the province’s government on June 7.
This would translate to an increase of 10,500 newcomers to Quebec from this year’s maximum of 42,000 and mark an approximate return to the immigration level that was in place before the election of the province’s new Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government in October 2018.Between 2015 and 2018, Quebec’s immigration levels were 53,084, 52,388 et 51,118, respectively.
Other proposals outlined in the new document include:
• Favouring foreign workers and foreign nationals with a degree in Québec who meet the province’s labour market needs and who are already living in Quebec as temporary residents;
• Favouring skilled applicants with in-demand training or a validated job offer who match short-term labour market needs in Quebec;
• Expediting the arrival of economic-class immigrants in order to respond more quickly to Quebec’s labour needs;
• Supporting efforts by employers in all regions of Quebec to recruit temporary foreign workers by reducing delays before their arrival and to facilitate procedures to meet the needs of the workforce. short-term work;
• Promoting the selection of immigrants who know Quebec’s democratic values and the values enshrined in Quebec’s Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms;
• Expanding the number of adult immigrants who speak French by expanding access to government-run French language training;
• Encouraging the permanent immigration of young people to counter the province’s ageing and declining population.
A CAQ move to dismiss a backlog of more than 18,000 pending applications to the Quebec Skilled Worker Program (QSWP) under proposed legislation known as Bill 9 was blocked by a court order in February.

Quebec’s Immigration Minister, Simon-Jolin Barrette, said the applications were submitted when the QSWP operated on a first-come, first-served basis, which he said was not in touch with Quebec’s workforce needs.