The four streams
The Ministère assigns your stream from the main occupation declared in your profile. Each stream has its own conditions.
- Stream 1, highly qualified and specialized skills: occupations in FEER categories 0, 1 or 2 (management, professional and technical occupations).
- Stream 2, intermediate and manual skills: occupations in FEER categories 3, 4 or 5.
- Stream 3, regulated professions: professions on the Ministère's list of regulated professions, with an authorization to practise or a recognition of competence.
- Stream 4, exceptional talent: people with a recognized achievement in their field, with at least three years of practice in the main occupation during the five years before the application.
French: the central requirement
French is not a bonus in the PSTQ; it is a condition in streams 1, 2 and 3. Stream 4 (exceptional talent) has no French requirement, for the applicant or the spouse. The levels are those of the Échelle québécoise des niveaux de compétence en français.
- Stream 1 and regulated professions in FEER 0 to 2: oral French level 7 or higher and written French level 5 or higher.
- Stream 2 and regulated professions in FEER 3 to 5: oral French level 5 or higher.
- Accompanying spouse or partner: oral French level 4 or higher, in streams 1 to 3.
Levels are proven with a recognized test (TEFAQ, TEF, TEF Canada, TCF Québec, TCF Canada, TCF, DELF, DALF), with results no more than two years old on the day of the application, or by other means accepted by the Ministère. We tell you before you spend a dollar on tests whether your current level is enough for your stream.
Education and work experience
- Stream 1: at least one year of full-time paid experience in the main occupation, in or outside Quebec, in the five years before the application, and a diploma from a program of at least one year that leads directly to the practice of a profession.
- Stream 2: at least two years of paid experience in the five years before the application, of which at least one year in Quebec (experience outside Quebec counts for one year at most), and a secondary school diploma or a vocational or technical program of at least one year.
- Stream 3: a profession on the list of regulated professions and, from the regulatory body, either an authorization to practise or a full or partial recognition of competence issued within the five years before the application.
- Stream 4: at least three years of practice in the main occupation in the last five years, plus an achievement on the Ministère's list or the opinion of a partner organization.
Conditions common to all streams
- An Attestation of learning of democratic and Québec values, for you and for every accompanying family member aged 18 or over.
- A signed Financial Self-Sufficiency Contract: you undertake to provide for yourself and your family for the first three months after becoming a permanent resident. The amounts follow the Ministère's current scale.
- The intention to settle in Quebec and to work there.
How the invitation works
There is no application without an invitation. The process runs through Arrima, the Ministère's online platform.
- Declaration of interest: you create your profile in Arrima: occupation, education, experience, French, family, job offer if any. The profile enters the Ministère's bank of candidates.
- Ranking: profiles are scored on human capital (French, age, experience, education), on Quebec's labour market needs (including a validated job offer in the main occupation) and on adaptation factors. Unscored criteria such as the occupation code, the FEER category and residence inside or outside the Montreal metropolitan area can also be used as eligibility filters for a given round.
- Invitation rounds: the Ministère invites the highest-scoring profiles for the targets it sets, round by round. A score above the minimum of a round does not guarantee an invitation, and nobody is invited at random.
- Thirty days to accept: the invitation arrives in your Arrima message centre. You have 30 days to accept it; an invitation that is not answered lapses, and the declaration of interest is removed.
- The application: once the invitation is accepted, you file the application for permanent selection with all supporting documents. A positive decision is the CSQ.
- The federal step: with the CSQ, you apply to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for permanent residence as a Quebec-selected skilled worker, with the medical, security and admissibility checks that every permanent resident goes through.
Where applicants go wrong
- Filing a declaration of interest with a French level that does not meet the stream's threshold, which makes the profile ineligible whatever the score.
- Declaring a main occupation that does not match the work actually done, which changes the stream and the conditions.
- Counting experience that is not eligible: unpaid, part-time below the equivalence, or outside the five-year window.
- Missing the 30-day deadline on an invitation.
- Submitting a selection application with incomplete proof of experience or education after the invitation.
How we work on a PSTQ file
- Profile assessment: stream, eligibility against the thresholds, realistic score, and what would raise it (French level, job offer, Quebec experience).
- Declaration of interest: prepared and filed in Arrima, with the occupation and experience declared exactly as they can be proven.
- Monitoring: we follow the invitation rounds and keep your profile current while you wait.
- Selection application: complete file after the invitation, within the deadline, with the values attestation and the financial contract.
- Federal application: the permanent residence application to IRCC after the CSQ, through to the decision.
Program rules checked against the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration's official pages in October 2026. Quebec adjusts its selection criteria and invitation rounds regularly; we confirm the current conditions at your consultation.