In the menu the portal is written “Arima.” The official name is Arrima.
Quebec chooses its own economic immigrants. A person who will settle in Quebec as a skilled worker does not do that through Express Entry. The province issues a Certificat de sélection du Québec. Only then does the person apply to the federal government. Federal officers still decide medical, criminal, and security admissibility. A Quebec certificate is not a permanent-resident visa.
Your options on this page
- PSTQ, the Skilled Worker Selection Program — the ordinary route. Four streams. Everyone starts with an expression of interest in Arrima.
- PEQ, the Quebec Experience Program — only a temporary receipt window, 2 July through 31 October 2026, and only if the diploma or the Quebec work already existed on 19 November 2025.
- Pilots for specific jobs — time-limited. Several were scheduled to end on 1 January 2026. Treat a pilot as closed unless the ministry is still receiving applications.
How we can help
- Place the main occupation in the right PSTQ stream, and say if the PEQ window still applies to this file.
- File and keep the Arrima declaration inside the 90 days Quebec allows, with the main occupation kept current.
- Line French proof up with the Échelle québécoise, not with a federal benchmark chart.
- After a selection certificate, prepare the federal permanent-residence application. The two portals are not the same account.
Quebec Skilled Worker Program
The ministry places you in a stream from the main occupation you declare. FEER is Quebec’s training level. It is the second digit of the five-digit occupation code.
The four streams
- Stream 1, highly qualified. FEER 0, 1, or 2. Usually at least one year of paid work in that occupation in the last five years, a diploma that leads to a profession, and French at oral level 7 and written level 5.
- Stream 2, intermediate and manual. Spoken French at level 5 is the usual language bar.
- Stream 3, regulated professions. French follows the FEER: oral 7 and written 5 for FEER 0–2; spoken 5 for FEER 3, 4, or 5.
- Stream 4, exceptional talent. The criteria are the ones attached to the invitation.
What has to be true in every stream
- Age 18 or older, intending to settle in Quebec and do a job you can actually do.
- You are not coming to work for a business you control.
- Some sectors are ineligible, including payday loans and the sex industry.
- A financial self-sufficiency contract for the first three months, using the amounts Quebec publishes.
- You and accompanying adults complete the attestation on democratic and Quebec values.
- An accompanying spouse usually needs spoken French at level 4.
An invitation is not a promise of another one. If the main occupation changes after the invitation, you generally decline and wait again. There is no guarantee of a second invitation. Rounds in 2026 have been by stream, and a round can be tighter than the basic stream rules.
How we can help
- Name the stream from the occupation code, not from the job title.
- Check French, the spouse’s French, and the ineligible-sector rule before an invitation is accepted.
- If the occupation has changed, tell you to decline rather than file a file that no longer matches.
Quebec Experience Program
The PEQ used to be the faster route for Quebec graduates and temporary workers. Both streams were suspended. The program ended as a standing pathway on 19 November 2025. Quebec then reopened it from 2 July 2026 to 2 July 2028, on the selection conditions that applied before the suspension.
What is actually open
- Applications are receivable only from 2 July through 31 October 2026. After that date, treat the window as closed unless Quebec publishes a new one.
- Graduates: on 19 November 2025 you already had, from Quebec, a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate, a technical college diploma, or a vocational diploma of at least 1,800 hours, alone or followed by a specialization. French: oral 7 and written 5.
- Temporary workers: on 19 November 2025 you already had at least two years of Quebec work in FEER 0, 1, 2, or 3. French: oral 7.
- An accompanying spouse needs spoken French at level 4.
- Anyone who does not already have that diploma or that work history uses the PSTQ, not the PEQ.
How we can help
- Check the 19 November 2025 date against the diploma or the work record before any form is started.
- File inside the receipt window if the conditions are met, and move the file to the PSTQ if they are not.
Expression of Interest System
A Quebec expression of interest is not an application for selection. It is a declaration in Arrima that puts you in a bank of candidates. The ministry invites when a profile matches a stream and the priorities of the moment. Those priorities change. A complete declaration can sit without an invitation.
What the declaration needs
- Age 18 or older, and an intention to live and work in Quebec, in a job you can do, for an employer you do not control, outside the ineligible sectors.
- Status, education, work, and intentions. Work covers paid jobs and internships over the last five years, including a compulsory internship in a program of study.
- The main occupation kept current. The stream and the invitation both follow it.
- 90 days from the day the declaration is created to complete and submit it. After that, it is deleted.
- Submitting is free. No paid representative is required to fill it in.
- You can consent to be visible to Quebec employers. That is a recruiting tool. It is not a job offer and it is not an invitation.
How we can help
- Complete the declaration inside the 90 days and keep the occupation aligned with the documents.
- Tell you when a profile is complete but still not being invited, so the plan is not “wait forever.”
Arima Portal
Arrima is the online system where the expression of interest is created, stored, and updated, and where an invitation arrives if one is issued. The menu label on this site says Arima. The name on the Quebec system is Arrima.
- The account is on Quebec’s online services. The PSTQ declaration is filed there at no fee.
- Invitations and later selection steps use the same account. An old email address is a common way to miss a deadline.
- Arrima is not the IRCC portal and it is not Express Entry. A profile in one system does not create a profile in the other.
- After a selection certificate, permanent residence still goes to the federal government, with its own account, fees, medical exam, and police certificates.
- Arrima is also not the employer portal. Employers use a separate tool.
How we can help
- Set up the right account, and keep the contact details current through the invitation.
- Keep the Quebec file and the later federal file from being mixed into one checklist.
Quebec Immigration Pilot Programs
Beside the PSTQ, Quebec has used pilots for permanent selection in specific jobs: orderlies, food processing, and information technology and visual effects, among others.
- They were time-limited. Several were scheduled to end on 1 January 2026.
- A pilot is an option only while the ministry is still receiving applications. A page from last year is not proof that it is open.
- Each pilot has its own French level, work experience, and sometimes a Quebec job offer. It is not a back door around the PSTQ.
- Files already accepted continue. New applicants use whatever is actually open: the PSTQ, and the PEQ only inside its published window.
- Entrepreneur, investor, and self-employed programs are under Business, not here.
How we can help
- Check the ministry page for the occupation before anyone relies on a pilot.
- Move a closed-pilot plan onto the PSTQ without losing the work and French evidence already gathered.
Language requirement Chart
Quebec does not use the federal Canadian Language Benchmark chart as its selection scale. It uses the Échelle québécoise. A federal NCLC 7 is a useful comparison. The document Quebec accepts, and the line it reads, are set by the ministry.
Proof Quebec has accepted
- TEF, TCF, TEFAQ, DELF, DALF, and some Quebec diplomas.
- Read the current “demonstrate your knowledge of French” page before a test is booked.
- Oral French means listening and speaking. Written French means reading and writing.
- A strong English score does not replace these levels.
Levels that come up most often
- PSTQ stream 1: oral 7 or higher, written 5 or higher.
- PSTQ stream 2: spoken 5 or higher.
- PSTQ stream 3: oral 7 and written 5 if the occupation is FEER 0, 1, or 2; spoken 5 if it is FEER 3, 4, or 5.
- Accompanying spouse, generally: spoken French at level 4.
- PEQ graduates, during the temporary window: oral 7 and written 5.
- PEQ temporary workers: oral 7. Accompanying spouse: spoken 4.
How we can help
- Match the test result to the Échelle level the stream actually asks for, including the spouse.
- Book the accepted test, not a federal English test that Quebec will not read as French.
