Quebec’s Areas of Training List are giving a new edge to foreign degrees in actuarial science, information management and early childhood education, among others.
The Areas of Training List provides the number of points awarded for specified foreign and Quebec university, college and secondary-level vocational degrees under the Quebec Skilled Worker Program (QSWP), the province’s most popular immigration pathway.
Area of Training is one of the 10 factors that are considered under the QSWP’s points grid and can be worth up to 12 points.
Actuarial science, information management and early childhood education are among the seven most valuable foreign degrees, receiving the maximum 12 points under the updated list.
List linked to new Expression of Interest system
The revised Areas of Training List is one of a number of key changes to Quebec’s immigration system that came into effect August 2.
Chief among these is Quebec’s move to a new Expression of Interest (EOI) system for the QSWP, which will rank eligible candidates based on factors that now include work experience in the United States. This innovation makes Quebec the only Canadian province at the moment to specifically award points for U.S. work experience.
The EOI system replaces the first-come, first-served approach that Quebec had used to manage applications to the QSWP. This means that, rather than opening periodically for a set number of applications, Quebec will now require anyone who wants to be considered through the QSWP to submit an Expression of Interest profile to its Immigration Ministry (MIDI).
Profiles will be entered into a bank of candidates from which MIDI will select those who meet labour market needs and are most likely to integrate successfully into the the province’s economy and society, among other possible considerations.
Candidates in the EOI bank will be classed in two groups — one for eligible candidates who are either living in Quebec and meet specific criteria or have a job offer in the province, and the other for candidates living outside Quebec.
Candidates in both groups will be ranked based on their scores under a number of factors, such as age, proficiency in French or English, education and Canadian or U.S. work experience. Quebec lists Area of Training as one of the ranking factors for candidates applying from outside the province.
Area of training points are also considered once candidates have been invited to apply for a Quebec Selection Certificate (Certificat de sélection du Québec, or CSQ).
Candidates who reach this stage will have to meet the cut-off score for employability and obtain a minimum passing score of 50 (59 if accompanied by a spouse or common-law partner) under the QSWP points grid in order to be considered for selection. Area of training factors into both calculations and can therefore be instrumental to receiving a CSQ.
