Graduates of Quebec post-secondary institutions looking to settle in the province will soon need to meet increased French-language criteria in their education.
Starting on November 23, only programs wherein 75% of courses or credits were completed in French will be eligible for the PEQ Graduates component.
These changes impact college and university students differently:
Level and type of studyNew French-langauge criteria
Students in vocational and college training programs75% of courses must be completed in French
Students in University undergraduate programs75% of program credits must be completed in French
Students in University master’s or PhD programs75% of program credits must be completed in French.Theses, master’s dissertations, internships, and research labs may be completed in a language other than French, but all other program courses or credits must meet the French-language requirement.
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In addition to these changes, students who graduated from a Quebec post-secondary institution whose course was eligible for the PEQ graduate component (but was not completed to the French-language criteria) may still be eligible for this immigration stream—if they have completed at least three years of full-time secondary or post-secondary studies in French in Quebec or abroad.
Recent pauses on PEQ Graduate applications
In addition to the above changes, the PEQ Graduate component has already seen a temporary pause on applications, until June 30, 2025.
The Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI)—Quebec’s provincial immigration department—predicts that on account of this this pause on applications, they will issue only 4,500-5,700 Quebec Selection Certificates (CSQs) to PEQ graduate candidates in 2025, a steep decrease from the 14,500 CSQs projected to be issued in 2024. These targets are covered in Quebec’s newest Immigration Levels Plan.
The 2025 CSQ projection is for candidates who submitted profiles under the PEQ Graduates component before the pause in selections for this stream came into effect.
In addition to this change, MIFI also announced a pause in invitations for immigration candidates through the Regular Skilled Worker Program (QSWP) (soon to be the Skilled Worker Selection Program), until June 30, 2025.
Immigration options for PEQ candidates outside of Quebec
While the pause in selections for the PEQ Graduate component may negatively impact immigration candidates in the program, these individuals do have immigration options outside of the province.
One prominent example is the Canadian Experience Class (CEC)—a stream of Canada’s Express Entry system—which can be viewed as the federal government’s version of the PEQ. Under the CEC, candidates must have at least one year’s worth of Canadian work experience inside Canada, as well as language ability in either English or French equivalent to a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 5 or 7 (depending on a candidate’s job).
Another immigration pathway that PEQ candidates may take advantage of is category-based selections under Express Entry for French speakers. Under these categories, candidates can (if they are eligible for at least one Express Entry program, and have a valid Express Entry profile at the time of a candidate selection) be invited with lower ranking scores. To qualify for the French language category, candidates must have a CLB level 7 in all language skills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking).
To learn more about federal immigration options for PEQ candidates, how Express Entry works, and how to apply, find our recent article here.
See your eligibility for all Express Entry streams
Quebec changes eligibility requirements for the PEQ Graduates stream
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