Getting a CSQ: the PSTQ and Arrima explained simply

Immigration

Quebec selects its own economic immigrants. That adds a step compared with the rest of Canada, and creates a lot of confusion around three words often used as if they were interchangeable: CSQ, PSTQ and Arrima. They are not.

Three words, three different things

• The CSQ — Certificat de sélection du Québec — is the outcome. It is the document by which Quebec selects you.
• The PSTQ — Programme de sélection des travailleurs qualifiés — is the program through which you obtain that certificate.
• Arrima is the online portal where it all starts.

In short: you go through Arrima, under the PSTQ, to obtain a CSQ.

A CSQ is not permanent residence

This is the most expensive misunderstanding, and it is worth labouring.

Permanent immigration to Quebec happens in two stages, with two governments:

• Quebec selects you and issues the CSQ. That is the ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI).
• The federal government admits you. With your CSQ, you then apply for permanent residence to IRCC, which checks medical, security and criminal admissibility.

So holding a CSQ does not yet give you permanent resident status. It gives you the right to move to stage two.

How the PSTQ works

Since November 2025 the PSTQ has been the central skilled worker selection program in Quebec. It works by declaration of interest, not first come, first served.

1. The declaration of interest in Arrima

You create a profile and complete a declaration of interest. It enters a pool of candidates. Your profile is scored automatically against various criteria — education, experience, French, age, time spent in Quebec, your spouse’s profile — out of a maximum of 1,400 points.

Filing a declaration of interest is free and commits you to nothing.

2. The invitation

The ministry runs invitation rounds. If your profile reaches the required score and matches what Quebec is looking for at that moment, you receive an invitation to apply for permanent selection.

There is no fixed threshold published in advance: the score required varies from round to round.

3. The application for permanent selection

The invitation opens a deadline to file the complete application with supporting documents. This is where the quality of the file genuinely matters.

4. Examination, then the CSQ

The ministry examines the application. If all selection criteria are met, it issues the CSQ. You then move to the federal stage.

Do you need a lawyer for a CSQ?

Honest question, honest answer: no, not in every case. The Arrima declaration is designed to be completed by the candidate, and plenty of people do it perfectly well.

Professional help genuinely earns its keep in specific situations:

• Your experience is hard to classify under the NOC. The wrong code changes the score, and sometimes eligibility.
• Your credentials are foreign and the equivalence is not obvious.
• You are choosing between programs — PEQ, PSTQ, regional streams, the federal route. Picking wrong costs months.
• You have had a refusal, an allegation of misrepresentation, or a complicated immigration history.
• Your family situation is unusual: a spouse to declare, children abroad, a separation in progress.
• You have been invited and face a deadline with documents missing.

If none of that applies, save your money and file it yourself. We would rather say so plainly.

The mistakes we see most

• Assuming the CSQ is the end. The whole federal stage still follows, with its own timelines.
• Neglecting French. It is one of the heaviest scoring elements in the PSTQ. Sitting and passing a test often transforms a file.
• Letting the declaration go stale. A profile that is not updated — new job, new diploma, new French result — is an under-scored profile.
• Failing to declare a family member. An omission, even in good faith, can be very costly later.

If you graduated in Quebec or worked here before 19 November 2025, check the PEQ reopening first — that window closes on 31 October 2026.