Immigrating to Quebec

For almost everything, yes. Quebec awards no points at all for English, and there is no route that treats English as a substitute.

The thresholds are spoken level 7 for the PEQ, PSTQ Stream 1, and all four business programs. Stream 2 and the technical side of Stream 3 accept spoken level 5. An accompanying spouse needs level 4.

The single exception is PSTQ Stream 4, for exceptional talent, which has no French requirement. It is also tiny, with rounds of between 2 and 25 invitations, and requires a recognised achievement or a positive opinion from a government partner in research, the arts, sport or a strategic sector. It is not a realistic plan for most people.

From 17 December 2028, temporary foreign workers applying for a Quebec acceptance certificate after three years in the province will also need spoken level 4.

Level 7 on the Quebec scale is roughly B2 on the European framework. In test terms that is 400 out of 699 on the TEF, TEFAQ or TEF Canada; 400 out of 699 for TCF listening and reading, or 10 out of 20 for TCF speaking and writing; or a pass at DELF B2.

Levels 7 and 8 share the same score band, so reaching the bottom of the B2 range is enough to satisfy a level 7 requirement. Level 9, which is C1 or 500 and above, earns extra points rather than unlocking new programs.

Quebec assesses listening, speaking, reading and writing separately, and most programs set a spoken requirement with a lower written one. Use the converter above for each skill. Results must be less than two years old when you apply.

You can, but be realistic about the odds in the skilled worker streams. The Quebec points grid puts more than half its 1,400 points into rewarding an existing connection to Quebec. A Quebec diploma alone is worth up to 200 points and Quebec work experience up to 160.

In practice, nearly every Stream 1 and Stream 2 exercise in 2026 has invited people who were already living in Quebec, held a Quebec diploma of at least one year, and worked in a priority occupation such as health, education, early childhood, engineering or the construction trades.

The routes that genuinely work from abroad are the four business programs, which accept applications at any time with no cap, and Stream 3 for regulated professions where your training has been recognised by a Quebec professional order.

No, and this catches people out. The Certificat de selection du Quebec is Quebec saying it has selected you. Permanent residence is granted by IRCC in a separate application, which handles medical, security and criminality checks.

Quebec cannot grant you status, and Ottawa cannot overrule Quebec on selection. You need both.

A useful side effect: a CSQ less than two years old makes you eligible for an open work permit from abroad, so you can move to Quebec and start working while the federal application is processed. As at July 2026, Quebec was working through selection applications received in October and November 2025.

You still need a Quebec acceptance certificate for studies, applied for online through Arrima, costing $135 from 1 January 2026 and taking about 29 business days at present.

What has changed is that Quebec now caps how many study applications each institution may generate. The current order sets a maximum per institution for each one-year period from 17 December 2025 to 16 December 2027, applying to vocational, college and university studies. Once an institution reaches its limit, further applications are rejected and the fee refunded.

Some applicants are exempt, including those continuing the same program at the same institution, asylum seekers, and dependent children of a temporary worker or student. Primary and secondary studies are exempt automatically.

Graduating no longer leads straight to the PEQ unless you already held your diploma on 19 November 2025. For everyone else the route is the PSTQ, where a Quebec diploma is still worth up to 200 points.

It is harder than it was. Quebec suspended intake of certain labour market impact assessment applications for jobs in the Montreal and Laval regions, and that measure now runs to 31 December 2026. It catches any application where the offered wage is below the federal threshold, currently $36 an hour, including renewals for workers already employed.

There is a second layer. Since 10 April 2026 the federal refusal to process measure also applies in Montreal and Laval because the metropolitan unemployment rate is at or above 6%, and Quebec states the federal measure currently prevails there.

Several sectors are exempt, including agriculture, construction, food processing, primary and secondary education, and health and social services. Jobs outside Montreal and Laval are unaffected, as are wages at or above the threshold.

Work permits that do not need a labour market assessment are not caught at all. That includes intra-company transfers, spousal open work permits, post-graduation work permits and CUSMA professionals.

You sign an undertaking with the Quebec government in addition to your federal sponsorship application, and Quebec, not IRCC, assesses your financial capacity.

Since 2 July 2026 there is also a cap of 15,700 undertaking applications to 30 June 2028, split between 13,300 for spouses and partners and 2,400 for parents, grandparents and other relatives. A queue schedule determines when you may file, based on the date of your IRCC eligibility letter. Applications must be mailed, one per envelope.

Two things surprise people. A straightforward spousal sponsorship carries no income test in Quebec. And the undertaking cannot be cancelled once the sponsored person has permanent residence, regardless of separation, divorce, their becoming a citizen, either of you moving to another province, or your finances deteriorating.

Dependent children and orphaned minor relatives are exempt from both the cap and the queue.

Quebec suits people who intend to build a life in French. If you are already at level 7, or willing to get there, Quebec offers real advantages: business programs with no intake cap at a time when several provinces have closed theirs, a family reunification route that does not income-test spousal sponsorships, and a distinct selection system that rewards people who commit to the province.

If your French is limited and your timeline is short, another province is usually the better answer. Express Entry and most provincial nominee programs operate in English, and no amount of professional experience compensates for a missing French test result in Quebec.

We are happy to say Quebec is not right for you when that is the honest answer. Recommending a route that cannot work helps nobody.