Jean-François Roberge, the Quebec minister of immigration, announced the details of the Quebec Immigration Plan for 2025.
According to the latest announcement, the province plans to stay on course with its annual plans for permanent immigration, set at 50,000. For 2025, the province aims to admit between 48,500 and 51,500 immigrants.
The economic category presents the largest proportion of newcomers, accounting for roughly 31,000 to 32,900 people.
In addition to these “regular admissions”, there will be ongoing admissions under the Quebec Graduates component of the Quebec Experience Program (PEQ)*. This makes the total admissions in the economic immigration category 72% of total planned admissions.
The remaining permanent residents (PRs) are expected to arrive through other pathways such as family reunification (between 10,200 and 10,600 people) or refugee programs (between 6,600 and 7,200 people).
*The Quebec Immigration Levels Plan is presented each year by the Quebec Immigration Department to indicate the number of new immigrants the province intends to admit in the coming year, and the categories in which it will admit them.
A big focus on French
The plan reiterates the province’s focus on “strengthening the status of French,” while maintaining competitiveness in attracting talent in key sectors of the economy.
The proportion of immigrants who know French at the time of admission is proposed to be 79%-80% in 2025. This rises to 95% for principal applicants in economic immigration.
Suspension of two popular permanent resident pathways
In addition to the Immigration Levels plan, the province today announced that it would be suspending two popular programs that have been pathways for permanent residency.
The first program is the Regular Skilled Workers Program (RSWP). The province will not be issuing any invitations to submit an application for permanent selection under the RSWP or the Skilled Worker Selection Program which will replace it as of November 29, until June 30, 2025, at the latest.
Secondly, there will be a suspension in the intake of applications under the “Quebec graduate” stream of the Quebec Experience Program. This is often used by international students as a pathway to citizenship.
The Quebec government expects the pause to reduce the number of Quebec Selection Certificates (CSQs)issued to PEQ Graduates – from the projected 14,500 in 2024 to an estimated range between 4500 – 5700 in 2025.
This suspension is also expected to limit the number of PR admissions through this program in 2025. Without the suspension, the number is projected to be between 15,000 and 19,000 in 2025. However, due to the suspension, it is estimated to be between 13,500 to 15,000.
These measures are set to be in place until June 30, 2025, at the latest.
Temporary foreign workers
Unlike the federal Immigration Levels Plan 2025-27, the province has not included temporary resident limits.
However, it does state that a multi-year immigration planning exercise, accompanied by a public consultation, will take place in 2025, taking into account temporary immigration in particular.
This will contribute to the development of multi-year immigration guidelines for 2026.
Country cap for Regular Skilled Worker Program
Today’s announcement comes after a wave of changes this year around Quebec’s immigration system.
Earlier this month, the province announced that it would be limiting the number of foreign nationals invited under the Regular Skilled Worker Program to a maximum of 25% from any one country.
The policy, effective for a year starting October 9, 2024, will cap the proportion of invitations issued to foreign nationals of any single country at 25%, for each draw.
Immigration and Quebec
Quebec is unique among the Canadian provinces due to the control it has over the annual intake of skilled workers and immigrants. It also stands out for its emphasis on francophone immigration throughout Canada, a pathway that has consistently grown each year.
Immigration in Quebec is a two-step process. Individuals and families wishing to immigrate to the province under an economic program must first obtain a CSQ. With a CSQ, they can submit an application for Canadian PR to the federal immigration authorities.
Last year, Quebec announced plans to welcome 50,000 newcomers per year in 2024 and 2025. This number doesn’t include admissions of graduates selected under the Quebec Experience Program, and temporary foreign workers.
This announcement comes a week after Canada released its Immigration Levels Plan for 2025-27, stating that it would be cutting targets by 21% in 2025.
The federal targets for permanent resident admissions over the next three years are 395,000 in 2025, 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027.
