Quebec Skilled Worker Program (QSWP): Now the PSTQ

If you are researching the Quebec Skilled Worker Program, the first thing to know is that it no longer operates under that name. On November 29, 2024, Quebec replaced the Programme regulier des travailleurs qualifies with the Programme de selection des travailleurs qualifies, the PSTQ, or Skilled Worker Selection Program in English.

This was not a rebrand. The PSTQ changed how candidates are sorted, what French they need, and who realistically gets selected. It is now Quebec's main permanent pathway for skilled workers, and it sits entirely outside Express Entry because the Canada-Quebec Accord gives the province authority to select its own economic immigrants. SEP Immigration helps you identify the right stream, build a competitive Arrima profile, and carry the file through both the provincial and federal stages.

What Changed and Why It Matters

• Four streams replaced a single program. Every occupation on the Quebec job market now falls into one of four streams, assigned by your primary occupation rather than chosen by you.
• French became a hard gate. Since late 2023, French proficiency has been mandatory rather than merely a points advantage, for the principal applicant and in most cases for an accompanying spouse.
• Selection tightened. Quebec's 2026 to 2029 plan targets roughly 45,000 permanent residents a year, with about two thirds in economic categories.
• Old declarations did not carry over. Anyone who had declared interest before November 29, 2024 without receiving an invitation had to update their declaration.

Any guide still describing a single Quebec Skilled Worker Program with a points pass mark and optional French is describing a program that closed in 2024.

The Four PSTQ Streams

Quebec assigns your stream based on the primary occupation in your declaration of interest and its TEER category under the National Occupational Classification. Getting that classification right is the first real decision in the process, because it determines which stream you compete in and which French threshold applies.

Stream 1 and Stream 2

These two carry the bulk of the volume. Stream 1 covers senior and intermediate management and unregulated professional occupations. Stream 2 covers trades, service, and manual work. In practice Stream 2 has been receiving the larger share of invitations. In the July 2026 round, for example, Quebec issued 501 invitations in total across all four streams, and 289 of those went to Stream 2.

Stream 3

This stream is for people who intend to practise a profession requiring recognition by a Quebec professional order, and it comes with an important restriction on the other streams: candidates in Stream 1 exercises have been required to confirm they do not intend to practise a regulated profession from the Ministere's list. Recent Stream 3 exercises have prioritized healthcare professionals including nurses, pharmacists, physicians and dental hygienists, along with teachers, engineers, and regulated trades such as electricians and plumbers.

If your occupation is regulated in Quebec, the professional order's own recognition process runs alongside immigration and often takes longer. Starting it late is one of the more common ways this route stalls.

Stream 4

Exceptional talent is a small stream with a distinctive requirement. Alongside substantial work experience, generally at least 36 months, you need a positive opinion from a partner organization recognized by the Ministere in a strategic economic sector, research, the arts, or sport. It is also the stream where French is not a listed requirement, and one of the few routes regularly open to candidates outside Quebec.

Requirements That Apply to Every Stream

• Age. You must be at least 18.
• Intent to work in Quebec. Your intended employment cannot be for a company you control, directly or indirectly, legally or in fact.
• Work experience. All streams require qualifying experience, with the amount and recency set by the stream and by the individual selection exercise.
• French. Required for Streams 1, 2 and 3, at the level set for that stream.
• Financial self-sufficiency contract. Signed at the declaration of interest stage, confirming you can support yourself on arrival.
• Attestation of Quebec values. A signed commitment accepting Quebec's democratic values and common values, also at declaration stage.

The French Requirement

French does two jobs in the PSTQ. It is a threshold you have to clear to be eligible at all, and it is one of the largest scored factors once you are in the pool. Clearing the minimum gets you into the competition. Exceeding it is often what wins a draw.

Levels are measured on the Echelle quebecoise, which aligns with the NCLC scale. Accepted tests include TEF Canada, TCF Canada, TEFAQ, TCFQ, and the DELF and DALF diplomas. An accompanying spouse or common-law partner normally needs level 4 in both oral skills, and spousal French also contributes meaningfully to your adaptability points, so it is worth testing a partner even when you are comfortably above the threshold yourself.

How Selection Actually Works

1. Submit a declaration of interest in Arrima. This is free. It is scored and ranked, and it stays valid for 12 months.
2. Wait for a selection round. Quebec draws from the pool by stream, and often by narrower exercises within a stream targeting particular occupations, residence, or experience.
3. Receive an invitation if your profile matches the exercise and your score clears the cut-off.
4. Submit your application for permanent selection with supporting documents and fees, within the deadline given.
5. Receive your CSQ if Quebec approves the application.
6. Apply to IRCC for permanent residence as a Quebec-selected skilled worker.

Two features of this system catch people out. First, cut-off scores are not comparable to CRS scores and vary sharply by exercise. In the July 2026 round they ranged from roughly 475 points for one Stream 3 exercise up to around 726 points for priority-occupation exercises in Streams 1 and 2. Second, most 2026 exercises have required candidates to be living in Quebec at the time of selection, and several have required a period of recent Quebec work experience. Being in the pool is not the same as being reachable by the draws Quebec is actually running.

Quebec has also temporarily reduced PSTQ invitation volumes while the Quebec Experience Program intake runs, with remaining invitations concentrated in Stream 2 and Stream 4 until the end of October 2026. Volumes are expected to be reassessed after that.

PSTQ or the Quebec Experience Program

Both lead to a CSQ, and for the moment both are open, so the choice is a real one.

• The PSTQ is a competition. Meeting the requirements gets you into the pool. Selection depends on your score relative to everyone else in your stream.
• The PEQ is criteria based. If you meet the conditions and file during an open intake, your application is assessed on its own terms.

If you already have qualifying Quebec study or work experience, the Quebec Experience Program is usually the stronger route because it does not depend on being drawn, though its current intake closes on October 31, 2026 and the program is scheduled to end in July 2028. The PSTQ is the pathway that remains afterwards. Candidates who are not invited under the higher-skilled PSTQ streams have been directed toward the PEQ where they qualify, so the two are worth assessing together rather than in isolation.

After You Receive a CSQ

A Certificat de selection du Quebec is Quebec's decision, not permanent residence. You still file a federal permanent residence application, and IRCC decides after medical, criminal and security screening.

Status during that wait matters. Depending on where your file sits, an employer-specific LMIA-exempt work permit or a bridging open work permit may be available, and Quebec introduced further work permit facilitation for invited workers in 2026. Confirm what applies to your specific stage rather than assuming, because the options differ depending on whether IRCC has acknowledged receipt of your permanent residence application.

How SEP Immigration Helps With Your PSTQ Application

The work that decides a PSTQ file happens before any invitation exists. We confirm your NOC classification and therefore your stream, which sets your French threshold and the exercises you can be drawn in. We score your declaration of interest across every factor Quebec measures, including your spouse's French and Quebec connections, and identify which specific improvements would move you above recent cut-offs rather than telling you generally to improve your French.

We also tell you when the honest answer is that the exercises Quebec is running do not reach candidates in your position, so you can weigh the PEQ, another provincial nominee program, or a federal route instead of waiting in a pool indefinitely. After an invitation we prepare the application for permanent selection within its deadline, then handle the federal permanent residence stage. Sepehr Falahati is a licensed immigration consultant with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC/IRB, R533959).

To find out which stream you fall into and how your profile scores against recent rounds, book a consultation and bring your NOC code, work history, French test results, and details of any Quebec study, work, or family connection.

Quebec publishes the program rules on its PSTQ overview and requirements pages, and IRCC sets out the federal stage on its Quebec-selected skilled workers eligibility page.

This page is general information, not legal advice. PSTQ streams, French thresholds, invitation volumes and cut-off scores change between selection rounds. Confirm current requirements on Quebec.ca and canada.ca, or with a licensed representative, before you act.