Quebec limits permanent immigration program by country

Photo: Jacques Nadeau Archives Le Devoir During the past nine months of 2024, more than 12,000 Cameroonian nationals have been invited to apply for permanent residence under the PRTQ, i.e. 52% of the total “invitations”.

Sarah R. Champagne

Published at 3:33 p.m. Updated at 3:49 p.m.

• Québec

Cameroonians will no longer be able to apply for permanent residence in such large numbers in the coming year. Quebec on Wednesday limited the number of applications that can come from a single country after noting a “reduction in the diversity of origins” in one of the two major economic immigration programs.

According to the words of the order of the Minister of Immigration, Jean-François Roberge, it is to “strengthen the diversity” of countries of origin in the Regular Skilled Worker Program (PRTQ) that a quota of 25% is imposed. In other words, nationals of a particular country will not be able to train more than a quarter of the economic candidates of this program. The measure is put in place for the moment for a period of one year, that is until October 9, 2025.

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The provision published in the Gazette officielle du Québec Wednesday does not directly mention Cameroon as a targeted country of origin.

The most recent data from the program show that it is nevertheless Cameroonians who are affected first and foremost. During the past nine months of 2024, more than 12,000 nationals from this country have in fact been invited to submit an application for permanent residence under the PRTQ, i.e. 52% of the total “invitations”.

Entirely controlled by the provincial government, this program is competitive and operates by points: points are accumulated according to the field of training, knowledge of French, age, level of education, and other criteria. Between one and three times a month, “invitations” are made from the pool of candidates on the Arrima platform to become permanent residents. Some invitation exercises are also only aimed at candidates with a job offer outside the Montreal region or at lists of specific professions considered to be in labor shortage.

By the end of 2022, Cameroon had topped the list of countries from which candidates stood out from this pool of files. Several recruitment missions funded or organized by the government, notably the Journées Québec, took place in this central African country where approximately 11.5 million people speak French.

The other major economic immigration program controlled entirely by Quebec, the Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ), does not systematically publish the countries of origin of its accepted candidates.

Overall, France is more often the top country of origin, but it does not represent a quarter of new permanent residents. Between 2019 and 2023, 14% of permanent residents in Quebec came from this country, compared to 9% from China, 5.9% from Cameroon and 5.6% from Algeria.

Provided for by the Quebec Immigration Act, this provision has rarely, if ever, been used to impose a limit by country of origin.

In the United States, a 7% limit by country is imposed on certain categories of permanent immigration, such as reunification with extended family and employment sponsorship. In return, a permanent residency “lottery” is organized to favor countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.