The new Regulation Respecting Immigration to Québec (RIQ) was drawn up by the Government in order to improve Québec’s actions with regard to immigration and foster the full participation of immigrants in the development of Québec and its regions. The new regulation will enter into force on August 2 and will allow the full deployment of the Act respecting immigration to Québec.
The RIQ aims to improve all the programs of the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Diversité et de l’Inclusion and ensure that all the regions of Québec benefit from the contribution of immigration.
The major changes that the RIQ is making to the key immigration programs are the following:
The Ministère can implement the new immigration system based on the declaration of interest in order to continuously select individuals who have a profile that meets the socio-economic needs of the regions of Québec.
From now on, individuals who are interested in immigrating to Québec under the Regular Skilled Workers Program must submit a declaration of interest form. Only individuals who have been invited can submit an application for permanent immigration. In addition, changes to the program have been made in order to encourage candidates to settle outside the metropolitan community of Montréal and candidates who have an employment offer validated by the Ministère, including a validated job offer for low-skill jobs.
The changes made to the Investors Program aim to enhance the economic impact for Québec and improve the retention of immigrant investors, in particular Francophone candidates, while allowing Québec to remain competitive in the business immigration market.
In order to promote the arrival of dynamic and innovative entrepreneurs who contribute to the economic development of their host community, new provisions regarding the program intended for immigrant entrepreneurs are included in the new regulation. As of August 2, 2018, the program will consist of two components, the first that encourages the creation of innovative businesses, and the second that foster the creation and acquisition of small- and medium-sized businesses throughout the regions of Québec.
To meet the workforce needs of businesses in the region, improvements have been made in the Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ – Québec Experience Program). These changes will facilitate the transition from the status of temporary resident to that of permanent resident, in particular for spouses who are already employed in Québec, as well as temporary workers, regardless of their level of skills.
With a view to better protecting temporary foreign workers, as well as educating employers about their responsibilities towards the workers, a work contract will now be mandatory for all temporary foreign workers, regardless of the skill level required by their job or the salary offered.
The creation of new categories of guarantors recognizes the expertise of organizations who have been working for several years to accommodate and support refugees in Québec. This will foster the settling of sponsored refugees within the region and will allow closer monitoring and follow-up of the guarantors in order to ensure that sponsored refugees in Québec are well taken care of and integrate successfully.
Source: Govt of Quebec
Mr. Kalyan Paul, President & CEO is the founder of GVI, an MBA in Finance and also a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) from Canada. Mr. Paul has more than 18 years of experience in immigration consulting that made him one of the preferred & valued immigration consultants in the immigration industry. He is a licensed member of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC) [Previously known as Immigration Consultants Of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC)] (Membership ID: R417119) which is a professional body of licensed immigration consultants recognized by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
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