What is Quebec AI, IT, and Visual Effects Pilot?

This pilot program has come into effect on April 22, 2021, and will close on January 1, 2026.

This pilot program allows you to settle in Québec permanently if you are:  

• a foreign worker or a Québec graduate in artificial intelligence
  or
• a foreign worker in information technologies and visual effects

If you meet the program’s conditions, you can submit an application for permanent selection and obtain a Certificat de sélection du Québec (CSQ). Among other requirements, you must:

• be proficient in spoken French, if you are submitting an application under the Francophone profile
• hold or have accepted a job in Québec’s artificial intelligence, information technologies or visual effects sectors

This program allows for the selection of 550 people per year and their family members, that is, 275 Québec graduates and temporary workers in the artificial intelligence sector and 275 foreign workers in the information technologies and visual effects sector.

Are you Qualified?

This pilot program is comprised of two streams:

• Artificial intelligence;
• Information technologies and visual effects.

Each stream includes the following two profiles:

• Francophone
• Francization.

For both Stream you must:

• Be 18 years of age or over;
• Intend to settle in Québec to hold a job;  
• Respect the conditions of your stay in Québec, if applicable;
• Demonstrate financial self-sufficiency.

You must have enough funds. The funds depends on the number of children under 18 accompanying you. When you submit your application, you must sign the Financial self-sufficiency contract – Skilled workers (PDF 260 Kb).

Work Stream Requirements

Candidates for the Work stream must meet the following requirements:

• Hold a diploma related to the occupation of orderly after full-time studies of at least one year that corresponds to a Quebec diploma of vocational studies.
• Have acquired the following work experience:
  • At least two years in the last three years as an orderly in Quebec, OR
  • At least one year in a health occupation related to basic personal care outside of Quebec and at least one year as an orderly in Quebec in the last three years.

Work Stream: Occupations Targeted

Candidates must be employed as an orderly, under NOC 3413 (nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates).

Candidates employed outside of Quebec must have experience corresponding to one of the following occupations:

• NOC 3011: Nursing coordinator and supervisor
• NOC 3012: Registered nurse and registered psychiatric nurse
• NOC 3124: Allied primary health practitioner
• NOC 3233: Licensed practical nurse
• NOC 4412: Home support worker, housekeeper and related occupations, only when the applicant primarily performs one or several of the following duties in an institutional setting: providing personal care, dispensing bedside care and personal care and administering routine medical care.

Work-Study Stream: Requirements

Candidates in the Work-Study stream must meet the following requirements

• Have obtained a Quebec diploma of vocational studies leading to the occupation of orderly in the last two years.
• Have at least one year of work experience as an orderly in Quebec in the last two years, obtained after the completion of studies.

Work-Study Stream: Eligible Diploma

Candidates must have completed the study program Institutional and Home Care Assistance (870 hours of continuous training) and obtained a secondary diploma of vocational studies.

Work-Study Stream: Eligible Work Experience

Work experience must have been:

• Acquired legally.
• Paid.
• Full time (30 hours or more per week), or equivalent.