Permanent Immigration Pilot Program

Pilot programs are developed to overcome the shortage of labour in some particular sectors. The Province of Quebec has three pilot programs that enable eligible candidates to apply for permanent Residence along with their family members.
These three pilot programs are:

1. Permanent Immigration Pilot Program for Workers in Food ProcessingTemporary foreign worker

This program helps temporary foreign workers working in Quebec’s food processing sector to apply and settle permanently in the province. It came into effect on March 24, 2021 and will close on Jan 1, 2026. This pilot program allows for the selection of 550 workers in the food processing sector per year and their family members.

Requirements

Must be 18 years or older

Must have intent to settle in Quebec

Must be financially self sufficient

have obtained a diploma corresponding to a high school diploma or a Québec diploma of vocational studies, obtained in a study program of at least one year, full time

Must have an eligible job in an eligible sector in Québec

have held an eligible, full time job in eligible sector for a period of at least 24 months in last 36 months at the date of submission of your application

Work experience and the job currently held must also belong to one of the eligible sectors under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) of the Government of Canada:

NAICS 311 – Food manufacturing

NAICS 3121 – Beverage manufacturing

Eligible work experience and the job currently held must correspond to one of the following occupations, under the National Occupational Classification (NOC):

NOC 9462 – Industrial butcher and meat cutter, poultry preparer and related worker

NOC 9617 – Labourer in food and beverage processing

NOC 9618 – Labourer in fish and seafood

NOC 6732 – Specialized cleaner

NOC 9461 – Process control and machine operator, food and beverage processing

NOC 8431 – General farm worker, but only in the position of chicken catcher

NOC 9463 – Fish and seafood plant worker

2. Permanent Immigration Pilot Program for Orderlies

This program helps temporary foreign workers working in the province as oederly to apply and settle permanently in the province. It came into effect on March 31, 2021 and will close on Jan 1, 2026. This pilot program allows for the selection of 550 orderlies per year and their family members.This pilot program has two streams:

❖ Work

Requirements

Must be 18 years or older

Must have intent to settle in Quebec

Must have knowledge of oral French level 7

Must be financially self sufficient

Hold a diploma related to the occupation of orderly obtained after completing a full-time program of study of at least one year

The diploma must correspond to a diploma of vocational studies (DEP) in Quebec

Must have legally acquired, paid full time 24 months of work experience as orderly in Quebec in the 36 months preceding the date of application or

At least 12 months in a health occupation related to basic personal care outside Quebec and at least 12 months as orderly in Quebec during the 36 months preceding the date of application

The work experience or currently held job must correspond to the following National Occupational Classification (NOC) code:

NOC 3413 – Nurse aide, orderly and patient service associate.

Experience acquired outside of Québec must be in the health sector and related to basic personal care and must correspond to one of the following NOC codes:

NOC 3011 – Nursing coordinator and supervisor

NOC 3012 – Registered nurse and registered psychiatric nurse

NOC 3124 – Allied primary health practitioner

NOC 3233 – Licensed practical nurse

NOC 4412 – Home support worker, housekeeper and related occupations

❖ Work-Study

Requirements

Must be 18 years or older

Must have intent to settle in Quebec

Must have knowledge of oral French level 7

Must be financially self sufficient

hold a job as an orderly in Québec at the time of submission of application

Have obtained a Quebec diploma of vocational studies (DEP) leading to the practice of the orderly occupation during the 24 months preceding the date of submission of the application

Must have successfully completed the Institutional and Home Care Assistance Program and have a secondary diploma of vocational studies

Have at least 12 months legally acquired paid full time of work experience in 24 months as an orderly in Quebec, preceding the date of application and after the date of completion of the program of study

After completing their program of study, applicants must be hired by a Quebec employer and obtain a work permit.

3. Permanent immigration pilot program for workers in the artificial intelligence, information technologies and visual effects sectors

This program helps temporary foreign worker or a Québec graduate in artificial intelligence or a foreign worker in information technologies and visual effects, working in the province to apply and settle permanently in the province. It came into effect on April 22, 2021 and will close on Jan 1, 2026. This pilot program allows for the selection of 550 people per year and their family members (275 Quebec graduates and temporary workers in the AI sector and 275 foreign workers in the IT/VE sector). Both streams in this program include a French-speaker and a non French-speaker profile

Requirements

• Must be 18 years or older
• Must have intent to settle in Quebec
• Must be financially self sufficient
• Have met conditions to stay in Québec, if applicable

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❖ Artificial Intelligence stream : It has two categories

a. Foreign Workers

Requirements

Have a diploma equivalent to a Quebec bachelor’s degree and have acquired at least 24 months of full-time work experience in NOC level 0, A, or B jobs in last 60 months, or

Have obtained a diploma equivalent to a Quebec master’s or PhD in the last 12 months before submitting the application and hold or have accepted a job in Québec in the AI sector. The gross annual salary for the job must be at least $75,000 if the employer is located outside of the Metropolitan Montréal Community or at least $100,000 if located in the Metropolitan Montréal Community

b. Quebec Graduates

Requirements

Have a higher specialized studies (DESS) diploma, a master’s or a PhD from a Quebec educational institution issued in the last 24 months;

Hold or have accepted a full-time job in Québec in the AI sector;

Applicants who hold a diploma of higher specialized studies (DESS) must have held a full time job in a level 0, A or B according to the National Occupational Classification (NOC) for a least 6 months after completing the studies;

Have lived in Quebec as a student for a least half of the study program

❖ Information Technology and Visual Effects Stream

This stream helps foreign workers currently working in Québec as a temporary foreign worker under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) or the International Mobility Program (IMP) or under a youth exchange program which includes Working Holiday permit; Young Professionals permit; International Coop Internship.

Requirements

• Have a diploma equivalent to a Québec diploma of college studies – technical training, or a Québec bachelor’s degree
• Have held an eligible full-time job for at least 2 years in last 5 years
• Have or accept a full-time eligible job with an hourly wage equivalent to the maximum wage of the average wage of occupation

Targeted Occupations

The work experience or currently held job must correspond to one of the following occupations under the NOC

• NOC 0213 – Computer and information systems manager
• NOC 2133 – Electrical and electronics engineer
• NOC 2171 – Information systems analyst and consultant
• NOC 2173 – Software engineer and designer
• NOC 2174 – Computer programmer and interactive media developer
• NOC 2241 – Electrical and electronics engineering technologist and technician
• NOC 2281 – Computer network technician
• NOC 5131 – Producer, director, choreographer and related occupations,
• NOC 5225 – Audio and video recording technician
• NOC 5241 – Graphic designer and illustrator