Two new Quebec permanent immigration pilots open for applications

Quebec’s pilot programs for orderlies and food processing workers are currently accepting applications.

Quebec’s Minister of Immigration, Nadine Girault, announced the official opening of the Permanent Immigration Pilot Program for Orderlies on March 31.

The pilot program, which will run for up to five years, will select up to 550 principal applicants who work as orderlies annually. This program is intended to help the province of Quebec address the critical shortage of health care workers.

The application intake period for the pilot program begins today, March 31, and runs through to October 31, 2021.

This is the second permanent immigration pilot program launched by the province this month.

On March 24, Quebec officially opened the application window for the food processing workers pilot program. The program provides a pathway to permanent immigration for temporary foreign workers who hold eligible jobs in the food processing sector.

Find out if you’re eligible for Canadian immigration

A third pilot program for workers in the artificial intelligence, information technology and visual effects sectors will open on April 22, 2021.

The province will issue Quebec Selection Certificates (CSQ) to up to 1,650 principal applicants plus their family members, annually, through the three pilots. Applicants must be working in the eligible sectors to be selected.

Quebec announced the launch of these three permanent immigration pilot projects in 2020 in an attempt to alleviate current and future skill shortages in sectors that will be critical to a strong post-COVID-19 economic recovery.

Permanent Immigration Pilot Program for Orderlies

This pilot project is aimed at temporary foreign workers who are working as orderlies, nurses aides, and patient service associates (National Occupational Classification Code 3413) in Quebec and are fluent in spoken French.

There are two streams under this pilot program: Work and Studies-work.

Work stream

To be eligible under this stream, you must :

• have a diploma related to the field of an orderly, which you obtained following a one-year, full-time study program that corresponds to a Quebec diploma of vocational studies; and
• have at least 24 months of work experience as an orderly during the three years preceding your application date; or
• have worked at least 12 months in a health profession related to basic personal care outside Quebec and at least 12 months as an orderly in Quebec during the three years preceding your application date.

Work-study stream 

To be eligible under this stream, you must :

• have graduated with a Quebec diploma of vocational studies leading to the occupation of orderly during the two years preceding the date you submitted your application; and
• have at least 12 months of work experience as an orderly in Quebec, acquired during the two years preceding the date of submission of your application, and after the completion date of your study program;
• have successfully completed the Institutional and Home Care Assistance study program, and graduated with a secondary diploma of vocational studies.

Permanent Immigration Pilot Program for food processing workers

This pilot program is for foreign workers currently employed in Quebec in eligible occupations in the food processing sector and who have intermediate knowledge of French.

The pilot program has been accepting applications since March 24 and is open until October 31, 2021.

To be eligible under this pilot program, you must:

• hold a high school diploma or professional studies diploma from a program in Quebec; and
• have held an eligible full-time job for at least 24 months in an eligible sector in Quebec during the three years prior to the application date; and
• demonstrate knowledge of oral French at level 7, according to the Quebec scale of French proficiency levels for adult immigrants.

Eligible occupations include:

• Industrial butcher, meat cutter, poultry preparer and related workers (NOC 9462);
• Labourer in food and beverage processing (NOC 9617);
• Labourer in fish and seafood processing (NOC 9618);
• Specialized cleaner (NOC 6732);
• Machine and industrial process operator in food and beverage processing (NOC 9461);
• Agricultural worker, (NOC 8431) but only the job title “chicken picker;” and
• Worker in fish and seafood processing plants (NOC 9463);