Quebec immigration issued 1,384 Invitations to Apply (ITA) to immigrate to Canada in a draw through the Arrima Expression of Interest (EOI) system last week.

Read more:

In the Aug. 10 draw, the  Ministre de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI) targeted two categories. 

Minimum score of 591 set for first category of Arrima draw

In the first category are those with scores of at least 591 points in the Quebec Expression of Interest points system and Arrima profiles created by Aug. 7 at 6:30 a.m. who have an at least Level 7 of French oral language skill as measured under the l’Échelle Québécoise Des Niveaux De Compétence En Français Des Personnes Immigrantes Adultes or its equivalency.

In the second category, ITAs were issued to candidates with valid job offers from employers outside Greater Montreal, the francophone province’s biggest city. There was no minimum score for those candidates.

Under the Quebec EOI system, candidates submit an online expression of interest profile via Arrima.

Those profiles enter into an EOI pool, where they are ranked against each other using a points system and are valid for 12-months. The highest-ranking candidates are then invited to apply for a Quebec Certificate of Selection (CSQ) under the Quebec Skilled Worker program via periodic draws.

Candidates have up to 60 days to submit their applications

Candidates receiving an invitation have 60 days to submit a full application and approved candidates who receive a CSQ may then apply to the federal government for Canadian permanent residence.

Candidates and their spouses or common-law partners can score up to 1,320 points based on human capital and Quebec labour market factors.

The human capital factors are:

• French language ability;
• French and English combined;
• age;
• work experience, and;
• education.

The Quebec labour market factors are:

• work experience in a field with a labour shortage;
• qualifications in one of Quebec’s areas of training;
• level of Quebec education;
• professional experience in Quebec;
• professional experience in the rest of Canada, and;
• job offer inside or outside Greater Montreal.

Quebec publishes lists of high demand occupations and areas of training that weigh considerably in the assessment.