Quebec invited 305 skilled worker candidates over two Arrima draws

Published: January 8, 2020

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A total of 305 candidates for Quebec immigration have been invited over two Arrima draws in December.

In the latest draw on December 17, 2019, a total of 220 invitations went to candidates who submitted their application under Quebec’s .

These candidates were either except from the cap that had been in place when they first applied to the Regular Skilled Worker Program or they were residing in Quebec on a study or work permit on June 16, 2019 when roughly 16,000 Regular Skilled Worker Program applications were cancelled.

Earlier in December, Quebec invited 85 candidates to submit an application for permanent selection.

There were two types of candidates in the December 12 cohort. Either they had a valid offer of employment, or they were staying in Quebec carrying out official duties as diplomats, consular officers, or representatives of intergovernmental organizations, among others.

Since the launch of the Arrima system in July 2019, Quebec has held nine draws and invited 2062 candidates to apply for a (Certificat de sélection du Québec, or CSQ).

What is Arrima?

was introduced in 2018 to manage the bank of candidates for the QSWP after the program was switched from a paper-based “first-come, first-served” application approach to an Expression of Interest (EOI) system.

Quebec’s EOI system manages the bank of candidates for a Quebec Selection Certificate (Certificat de sélection du Québec, or CSQ), which is required in order to apply for permanent residence in the province through the QSWP.

Candidates express their interest by creating a profile in Arrima, which is then placed in the pool of candidates and ranked based on either a score or other criteria.

Quebec’s Immigration Ministry issues invitations to apply for a CSQ based on either a candidate’s score or other factors such as labour needs in the province’s regions.

Candidates who receive a CSQ can apply for permanent residence with Canada’s federal immigration ministry, which verifies medical and criminal admissibility.