Quebec has suspended two permanent residency pathways
As of the 2025 Immigration Levels Plan, Quebec has suspended two permanent residency pathways: The Quebec Experience Program (PEQ) for recent graduates and the Regular Skilled Worker Program (PRTQ). This suspension is effective until June 30, 2025. The main goal of this decision is to regulate the population growth in Quebec and focus on economic development and social integration.
What are the reasons for suspending the two pathways?
In the following, we’ll discuss the main reasons:
- Balancing Population Growth: This decision limits the number of new immigrants annually to 50,000 new residents, aiming to regulate the number of newcomers in Quebec.
- Cultural Integrity: Quebec is known to be a French-speaking province, so it aims to protect its cultural identity to ease the integration of newcomers.
- Economic Alignment: These new programs are suspended to focus on qualified candidates for the Canadian workforce to fulfill labour shortages in Quebec.
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What are the key changes in each pathway?
Each of the Quebec Experience Program (PEQ) and the Regular Skilled Worker Program (PRTQ) has key changes that we’ll discuss below:
Quebec Experience Program (PEQ)
This program is known to be for students or workers in Quebec offering a permanent residency pathway for workers and graduates in the province. The PEQ graduates stream is a popular pathway for graduates who aim to extend their stay in Quebec. The new suspension seeks to control the applications and manage the pool of candidates to fulfill economic needs.
This new decision doesn’t affect foreign workers who are currently in Quebec as they still can apply for the PEQ to support the province’s labour market demands.
Regular Skilled Worker Program (PRTQ)
This program is also paused but the province is planning to replace it with a more tailored program to align more closely with the province’s goals for economic and social integration by November 29, 2024. This program prioritizes French speakers or those who have training in an in-demand field to face labour shortages.
What do these updates mean for immigrants?
These updates affect immigrants in different ways, which are:
- It opens up new alternative options: Applicants can explore Canada’s federal pathways after this suspension such as Express Entry which is a pathway that admits over 110,000 immigrants annually.
- Changes to the skills and language requirements: Quebec has updated its criteria to prioritize French speakers who are highly skilled in an in-demand field by November 29. Mostly 60% of skilled worker applicants meet the language requirement aiming for a cultural focus.
- Keep yourself updated: You have to keep updated with the recent updates in Quebec if you want to apply especially if you are a skilled worker in an in-demand field.
What are the eligibility requirements for the PEQ program?
Let’s discuss the eligibility requirements in the following:
- You have worked in Quebec for a temporary time.
- You have a legal temporary worker status in Quebec as part of a youth exchange program, such as International Experience Canada (IEC).
- Show intention to work and settle in Quebec.
- You have to be in Quebec at the time of applying.
- Have at least 24 months of experience in a full time job from the 36 months of submission in a 0, A or B level job.
In summary, As of the 2025 Immigration Levels Plan, Quebec has suspended two permanent residency pathways aiming to manage population growth, focusing on cultural integrity, and economic demand. The two pathways are the Quebec Experience Program (graduate stream) PEQ and the Regular Skilled Worker Program (PRTQ) they will be suspended till June 30, 2025.
