Quebec Reveals its Plans for Launching an Economic Immigration Intake Mechanism Resembling Express Entry

Quebec unfolds its strategy to utilize new Expression of Interest system. This is a setup, which is identical to the federal Express Entry system. The Expression of Interest (Déclaration d’intérêt) procedure is going to deal with the profiles of the candidates who are applying for ‘Quebec Skilled Worker Program’.

This was anticipated after the launch of Federal Economic Immigration Management System in January 2015. Now the Quebec’s Immigration Ministry has clearly expressed its intention to make the Express Entry version of its own.

The overall immigration system of Quebec is quite unique and the province is in a position to launch this program. The Expression of Interest system is almost there to take place the old application process (first-come-first-served) for the QSWP and the malfunctioning Quebec application portal.  The portal will keep on receiving the applications from temporary residents of Quebec and candidates (cap-exempt QSWP) having an employment offer until the Expression of Interest mechanism is fully functional.

[Read more about: BC PNP Keeps on Issuing Invitations to Graduates, Entrepreneurs, and Workers]

A Concept Identical to Federal Express Entry

Similar to the Express Entry system, the candidates will have to submit an Expression of Interest as the first step with a view to be eligible for the Quebec Skilled Worker Program.

Another similarity relates to the validity period, which stretches up to 12 months. After entering the Expression of Interest pool, the candidates could receive their ‘ranking system’ based score, which will finalize their position in the pool. All these steps look similar to Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) of the Federal Express Entry.

During Federal Express Entry System, the ranking score of a candidate depends on the factors including education, age, language skills, employment or some other factors. We expect that Quebec will introduce a points-system, which follow the footsteps of Federal Express Entry System.

In the same manner, only such a candidate from the Expression of Interest pool will receive invitations to apply for a Quebec Selection Certificate who meet the required score through invitation rounds. The successful candidate can file an application for CSQ during a time span of 90 days period. After receiving the CSQ from Quebec, the candidate may then apply for Canadian permanent residence.