|
 QUEBEC SELECTED SKILLED WORKERS SCHEME
Quebec Selected Immigration
Under Canadian law, Quebec can establish its own immigration requirements in order to select immigrants who will most likely adapt to Quebec. In order to immigrate to Canada as a Quebec Skilled Worker, an application must be submitted to the local government in Quebec to obtain a Certificate de selection du Québec. After the application has been approved by Quebec, a separate application to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) for permanent residence has to be done. One of the advantages of this scheme is that Quebec Skilled Workers are not assessed on the six selection factors of the Federal Skilled Workers Program. The six selection factors will be explain in the following sections.
This guide focuses mainly in Skilled Worker Class Immigration, which is the most popular of most categories. It is also the most convenient way to immigrate to Canada. However, it is important to analyze the other alternatives in order to decide which option suits best for your personal needs.
Meet the Pass – Mark
As mentioned previously, for immigration purposes, Skilled Workers are people who are able to become economically established in Canada. Basically, applicants must meet work experience requirements, prove that they have enough funds to settle and earn enough points to meet the Pass - Mark based on the six selection factors.
In the Skilled Worker Class, a skilled worker is someone who has at least one year of full time work experience within the past ten years in one of the occupations listed in Skill Level A or B of the National Occupational Classification (NOC). In order to be considered full time work experience, the relevant job has to be of 37.5 hours per week or more.
Work experience is only considered for this purpose if it is included in
Skill Type 0 or Skill Levels A and B of the NOC.
Assuming that these prerequisites are met, then in order to immigrate to Canada as a Skilled Worker, the applicant needs to earn enough points to meet the Pass Mark. Fortunately for applicants, the pass mark was recently modified. On September 18, 2003 Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced that the pass mark for applicants applying for Permanent Residence as Skilled Workers (expect to
Quebec) would change from 75 to 67 points.
The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada constantly amends the Pass Mark, and these changes reflect changes in the labor market in Canada and also in the economy and society.
The following tables show the points earned for different circumstances under each factor. As mentioned, the 6 factors are Education, Official Languages, Experience, Age, Arranged Employment in Canada and Adaptability. The total points to meet the pass mark are 67.
In order to asses your situation and decide whether you will qualify for the Permanent Residence visa under the Skilled Worker scheme, you have to add up the points that reflect your own situation in each factor. For instance, if you have completed a Master of Business Administration and 17 years of full time study, you will earn 25 points (which is the maximum in this factor) for Education. However, if you have only completed a three-year diploma and at least 15 years of full time study, you will only earn 22 points for Education. If the total sum of your points in all 6 factors is equal to or greater than 67, then you are eligible to apply for the Permanent Residence Visa under this particular scheme.
  
|
