Quebec has one immigration program leading to permanent residence called the ‘Quebec Experience Program’. This program is commonly known by its French Acronym, ‘PEQ’. This general concept of this program in many ways parallels the idea of the federal ‘Canadian Experience Class’ whereby people already in the country (or in the case of the PEQ, already in Quebec), can in essence seek to ‘adjust’ their status to become permanent residents, if they meet certain qualifications. Technically, in the case of the PEQ, the program allows people to secure a Quebec Selection Certificate (‘CSQ’), which in turn allows an application for permanent residence.
PEQ applications are available to temporary residents of Quebec based on prior study and/or work in the province, along with some more general requirements.
The government of Quebec had previously announced changes to the PEQ detailing new requirements for the graduate stream, and the foreign worker stream. The changes took effect on November 1.
To quickly summarize the changes:
- With regard to those having studied in Quebec, the new changes would have limited applications to graduates of specified programs, with parameters set for minimum number of hours in some cases, and
- With regard to foreign workers in Quebec, qualification would require work only in occupations set in a specified demand list.
However, the government of Quebec, under pressure from various stakeholders, has now announced that those changes would be ‘repealed’, so that the requirements of the program are back to the more generalized study and work requirements as they were prior to November 1. Changes to the program may yet again be introduced, but the government is studying the situation before instituting (or re-instituting) any new measures.
The information in this article is for general purposes only, and not intended as legal advice for any particular situation.