Last Updated on April 23, 2021

Quebec immigration has started accepting applications for its pilot program aimed at workers in artificial intelligence, information technology and visual effects.

The five-year pilot will see 550 candidates per year selected for Quebec immigration. Candidates can come directly from a foreign country, or already be in Quebec as a temporary foreign worker.

The initial application window runs from April 22 to October 31, 2021.

This is the third Quebec pilot program to open to applications recently, after those for orderlies and food production workers.

“With the launch of this new pilot program, our government wants to equip companies to recruit the best talent internationally, to support and accelerate innovation in new technologies,” said Quebec Immigration Minister Nadine Girault.

“More than ever, Quebec’s economic recovery needs innovative and promising tools for wealth creation.”

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AI, IT and Visual Effects Workers Pilot Program

This pilot program is split into two streams, one for those working in AI and the other for IT workers and those specializing in visual effects.

The AI stream, which will accept up to 275 candidates, is for those who are working or having accepted a full-time job in Quebec in artificial intelligence and have either:

• at least a level 7 proficiency in French as measured by the Échelle québécoise des niveaux de compétence en français des personnes immigrantes adultes, or;
• are enrolled in a French-language training program.

The criteria for this first stream make a distinction between those who graduated outside of Quebec and those who graduated within the province.

Those who graduated outside the province have to have:

• a university degree equivalent to a bachelor’s in Quebec;
• an annual salary of at least $100,000 within the boundaries of the Montreal Urban Community (MUC) or at least $75,000 outside the MUC, and;
• either:

1. two years of full-time work experience in jobs with NOC codes O,A or B within the last five years, or;
2. A university degree equivalent to masters or doctoral degree from a Quebec university issued within the last year.

Those who are Quebec grads have to have:

• a specialized graduate diploma (DESS), masters or doctoral degree, issued in Quebec within the last two years and have lived in the province for at least half the time of that academic program;
• work experience. While no work experience is required for grads with masters or doctoral degrees, those with a DESS need to have completed at least six months of full-time work experience in a NOC category O, A, or B job with the year after graduation.

The visual effects stream, which will also accept a maximum of 275 candidates, is open to those in jobs with the following NOC system codes:

• 0213 – Computer and information systems managers
• 2133 – Electrical and electronics engineers
• 2171 – Information systems analysts and consultants
• 2173 – Software engineers and designers
• 2174 – Computer programmers and interactive media developers
• 2241 – Electrical and electronics engineering technologists and technicians
• 2281 – Computer network technicians
• 5131 – Producers, directors, choreographers and related occupations
• 5225 – Audio and video recording technicians
• 5241 – Graphic designers and illustrators

Candidates for this stream need to have either:

• at least a level 7 proficiency in French as measured by the Échelle québécoise des niveaux de compétence en français des personnes immigrantes adultes, or;
• be enrolled in a French-language training program.

They also need to:

• hold a college diploma (DEC) issued in Quebec or a bachelor’s degree granted by a Quebec university;
• have completed at least two years of full-time work experience in an admissible occupation within the last five years, and;
• either currently hold a job or have accepted a job offer in one of the acceptable occupational categories where the salary being offered is above 90 per cent of the average wage over the past three years for this occupation in Quebec as measured by the province’s ministry of employment, the Travail, de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale (MTESS).