If you reside in Québec and have just been recognized as a refugee or an individual in need of protection by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, you’re considered eligible to apply for permanent residence.
Individuals wishing to apply for the permanent residence may do so online using the Demande de sélection permanente – Personne reconnue réfugiée au Canada ou personne à protéger (incluant les membres de sa famille) A-0520-DF (in French only – PDF, 638 ko).
This form also allows you to submit an application for:
- relations who are in Québec and have also been recognized as refugees or persons in need of protection
- relations who you would like to bring from abroad or who are currently in Québec but haven’t been recognized as refugees or persons in need of protection
Once your application has been processed, you’ll receive your Québec selection certificate and certificates for your relations who, like you, are recognized as refugees or persons in need of protection.
Your relations who didn’t have status as refugees or persons in need of protection will receive their selection certificate when Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) confirms that they were included in your application for permanent residence.
Members of your family who are abroad must obtain their visa from the Canadian visa office for the country or territory where they currently live before they will join you in Québec.
Your application is going to be processed without any form of charge. Applications for Quebec immigration are approved through two separate processes: selection and admission.
While Selection occurs at the provincial level, admission occurs at the federal level. To immigrate to Quebec, an applicant must meet the set requirements for both selection and admission.
The Selection process:
Candidates are selected by Quebec by obtaining a certificat de sélection du Québec (CSQ – Québec selection certificate). There are a variety of Quebec immigration programs that issue CSQs to successful applicants. The CSQ may be a document stating that an applicant has officially been selected for immigration by the province of Quebec.
The admission process:
Once they have gotten the CSQ, applicants become eligible to submit an official application for permanent residence. This application is submitted to the federal immigration authority and, if approved, leads to permanent resident status.
Before commencing the immigration process for Quebec, an applicant should make sure that they meet the eligibility requirements for both the selection and admission processes.
After CSQ: Federal Stage
Obtaining a CSQ means an individual has officially been selected by the province of Quebec for immigration. However, this doesn’t guarantee that an individual will become a Canadian permanent resident. Rather, it means they move onto the second phase of the Quebec immigration process: the federal application for Canadian permanent residence.
Applicants at the federal stage of Quebec immigration must prepare an application for permanent residence as outlined by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). This is often a paper-based application, meaning that documents are submitted by hard copy via mail or courier to the IRCC processing centre.
If the application is approved at the federal level, then the applicant and every one of their accompanying relations will be awarded their Canadian permanent residence. The federal stage application requires significant documentation which can vary on basis of the qualifications and private history of individual applicants.
Applicants should be prepared to supply documentation supporting their claimed education, work experience, and language proficiency.
All adults included on a permanent residence application also will be asked to finish police clearance checks for his or their countries of residence (past and present) and every one of the relations included on an application will need to undergo a medical checkup.
Serious criminal and medical problems are often grounds for inadmissibility to Canada. The federal stage also has significant costs related to processing. Learn more about the prices of Canadian immigration processing fees.
Working With a CSQ
A CSQ doesn’t authorize an individual to work in Quebec. However, if an individual features a CSQ, they’ll be eligible to apply for an extension of an existing working paper in Quebec. In order for this to be made possible, the candidate must already possess a legitimate working paper in Quebec, a CSQ, and must have an official job offer from a Quebec employer.
If an individual meets these criteria, they will apply to the ministère de l’Immigration, de la Diversité et de l’Inclusion (MIDI) for an extension of their working papers.
Individuals in possession of a legitimate Quebec Selection Certificate/Certificat de sélection du Québec (CSQ) may go to Quebec without having to secure a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) for the position.
These workers may submit an application to renew or extend their work authorization in Quebec.
Under an agreement with the federal, Quebec allows for a few of the foreign nationals it’s selected under its economic immigration categories (specifically, the trained worker Program and the Quebec Experience Class) who are holders of legitimate working papers and who currently reside within the province of Quebec, to be ready to have their work authorizations extended with their current employer or renewed with a replacement employer without having to get an LMIA.
There’s no restriction on the occupation skill level of the position being offered to a CSQ holder.
Individuals who hold a legitimate CSQ under one among these programs and who currently reside in Quebec must fall into one among the subsequent categories:
- applicants seeking to extend their working papers for his or her current employer or renew it with a special employer within the province of Quebec;
- applicants seeking a working permit with a replacement employer within the province of Quebec;
- foreign students who have obtained post-graduation working papers and has an employment offer within the province of Quebec; or
- working papers holder through participation in one among programs under the International Experience Canada (IEC) program:
– Working Holiday,
– 18-month Young Professionals Co-op, or
– International Co-op (Internship).
Note that:
- The applicant must currently be a resident of Quebec.
- The working papers are valid for the duration of the work offer and can’t exceed two years. This time limit should allow the applicant sufficient time to submit an application for permanent residence before the working papers expire.
- the application must include copies of the valid CSQ and the job offer to work in Quebec. The CSQ must indicate one of the codes in section 9, Catégorie: “IQ – Travailleurs qualifiés”, “IP – Travailleurs”, “IT – Travailleurs qualifiés”, “IZ – PEQ Travailleurs”, “IY – PEQ Étudiants”, or “I6 Travailleurs Art.40”.
- Only employer-specific work permits are to be issued (no open work permits).
- Spouses or common-law partners who are accompanying the principal applicant and who are currently in Canada are entitled to apply for an open working paper for the duration of the principal applicant’s working papers, regardless of the skill level of the principal applicant’s occupation.
