Quebec closed its flagship immigration pathway, then reopened it eight months later. If you stopped researching the moment the PEQ shut down, you missed the part that matters more: while it was gone, Quebec built a replacement system, and that system, the PSTQ, is still the pathway officials are steering applicants toward even now that the PEQ is back.
This article breaks down exactly how the PSTQ streams work: what each one targets, the FEER classification that actually decides which stream is open to you, French requirements by stream, real 2025 invitation numbers, the Arrima and Declaration of Interest process, and credential recognition for a WES assessment. By the end, you should know which stream is yours.
What Happened to the PEQ, and Why PSTQ Matters Now
The PEQ permanently closed on November 19, 2025, ending its graduate and temporary-foreign-worker fast-track streams to permanent residence. Its closure left a gap, and the PSTQ was the system Quebec pointed applicants toward.
Then, Quebec reopened the PEQ on July 2, 2026. That reversal understandably confuses anyone who spent the closure period building a PSTQ application. One detail should settle the confusion: even with the PEQ back, officials describe the PSTQ, not the PEQ, as the province’s intended long-term primary economic immigration pathway. The PEQ’s return is a parallel option, not a signal that PSTQ was a detour.
If you are still weighing whether the reopened PEQ or the PSTQ fits your situation better, this PEQ-versus-PSTQ decision map walks through that comparison in more depth. This article assumes you have already landed on PSTQ and need to understand how its streams actually work.
The 4 PSTQ Streams at a Glance
The PSTQ has four standing streams, and each one targets a different kind of applicant.
- Stream 1: Highly qualified and specialized skills. Built for applicants in occupations that typically require significant education and training.
- Stream 2: Intermediate and manual skills. Built for applicants in occupations that typically require vocational training or moderate skill levels rather than a university degree.
- Stream 3: Regulated professions. Built for applicants whose occupation is governed by a professional order or regulatory body in Quebec.
- Stream 4: Exceptional talent. Built for applicants with an extraordinary professional profile that does not fit neatly into the other three streams.
Streams 1 and 2 are the two most commonly used routes and share a similar structure: both are anchored to an occupation classification system called FEER, both set a minimum work experience threshold, and both set a minimum French proficiency bar. The next section explains the classification system that actually sorts applicants between them, because it is not simply “degree holders go to Stream 1, everyone else goes to Stream 2.”
FEER Levels: The Real Decision Factor Over Your Degree
Most guides to the PSTQ lead with education level, and that is the wrong starting point. The real gatekeeper is FEER, which stands for Formation, Etudes, Experience et Responsabilites, Quebec’s own system for classifying occupations by the training, education, experience, and responsibility they typically require.
PSTQ Stream 1 requires an occupation classified under FEER level 0, 1, or 2. PSTQ Stream 2 requires an occupation classified under FEER level 3, 4, or 5. This is why a strong degree alone does not guarantee Stream 1 eligibility: if the occupation you actually work in is classified at FEER level 3, 4, or 5, Stream 1 is not open to you no matter how advanced your education is. A candidate with a Quebec master’s degree working in an occupation classified below FEER level 2 does not automatically qualify for Stream 1 on the strength of that degree; the occupation’s FEER level still governs.
Confirm your specific occupation’s FEER classification through Quebec’s official PSTQ requirements page before assuming which stream fits you.
Stream 1 vs Stream 2: Education and Work Experience Requirements
Once you know your occupation’s FEER level, the two most common streams diverge on credential level, work experience, and language.
- Stream 1 (FEER 0, 1, or 2): Requires a qualifying Quebec-or-equivalent credential ranging from vocational training through a doctorate, at least 1 year of full-time paid work experience within the preceding 5 years, and French oral level 7 or higher with written level 5 or higher on the Echelle quebecoise.
- Stream 2 (FEER 3, 4, or 5): Requires at least 2 years of paid work experience within the preceding 5 years, including at least 1 year of that experience in Quebec specifically, and French oral level 5 or higher.
Consider two hypothetical applicants. A university-credentialed engineer at FEER level 1 needs only 1 year of recent work experience but must clear a high French bar for Stream 1. A tradesperson at FEER level 4 needs double the work experience, specifically a year of it inside Quebec, but the French bar for Stream 2 tops out lower. Neither path is easier across the board; each trades one requirement for another. Stream 2’s requirement that at least 1 of its 2 years be earned inside Quebec is not a formality: an applicant with 2 years of relevant experience earned entirely outside the province does not yet satisfy Stream 2 on paper, even with the total years met.
Stream 3 and Stream 4: Regulated Professions and Exceptional Talent
Streams 3 and 4 exist for applicants who do not fit the FEER-based logic of Streams 1 and 2 cleanly.
Stream 3 is built for regulated professions, meaning occupations governed by a professional order or licensing body in Quebec, such as certain health, legal, or engineering professions. Where Streams 1 and 2 route applicants by occupation-level FEER classification, Stream 3 routes applicants by whether their profession requires a specific professional license or order membership to practice in the province. Meeting a FEER-based education and experience bar under Streams 1 or 2 does not substitute for that licensing recognition.
Stream 4 is built for exceptional talent, a narrower category for applicants whose professional profile stands out in ways the standard FEER-and-experience framework does not capture. For most readers researching PSTQ, Streams 1 and 2 remain the most likely fit; Streams 3 and 4 matter specifically when your profession is regulated or your circumstances are genuinely atypical.
Occupation-based classification is not unique to Quebec. Federally, Express Entry has run occupation-targeted draws for specific NOC codes, the same underlying idea as FEER: sorting candidates by what their job actually requires rather than treating all applicants as interchangeable.
French Proficiency Requirements by Stream
French proficiency is not optional in any PSTQ stream, and it does not scale down because your degree or work history was conducted in English. Quebec measures French ability using the Echelle quebecoise, a scale distinct from the CLB scale used federally.
PSTQ Stream 1 requires French oral level 7 or higher and written level 5 or higher on the Echelle quebecoise. PSTQ Stream 2 requires French oral level 5 or higher. Neither requirement is waived by an English-medium credential, English-language work experience, or a strong result on an English proficiency test. If your background is entirely in English, budget real time for French test preparation before building a PSTQ timeline around either stream.
This is also where PSTQ and federal pathways part ways most clearly. Federal PGWP eligibility runs on CLB thresholds measured through English or French tests, a different scale entirely from Quebec’s Echelle quebecoise. Clearing a CLB requirement for a federal purpose says nothing about whether you have cleared the separate French bar the PSTQ sets.
2025 Invitation Data: Scores and Competitiveness by Stream
Numbers from actual invitation rounds tell you more about real competitiveness than eligibility minimums alone. In the first 2025 PSTQ invitation round, Stream 1 candidates needed a minimum score of 768 on the PSTQ selection grid to receive an invitation. That score reflects the grid’s combined weighting of education, work experience, French proficiency, and other selection factors, not a pass or fail threshold on any single requirement.
Invitation volume also shows which streams are actually issuing the most invitations. Across the 2025 PSTQ invitation rounds, Stream 1 received 1,048 total invitations, the highest of the four streams, followed by Stream 3 with 924, Stream 2 with 877, and Stream 4 with just 55, out of 2,904 total invitations issued that year. If your profile fits Stream 1 or Stream 2 on FEER grounds, that is where the volume of actual invitations has been concentrated.
How the Arrima Portal and Declaration of Interest Process Works
Every PSTQ applicant interacts with the same online system: Arrima, Quebec’s immigration portal. Rather than submitting a complete application upfront, PSTQ candidates first create a profile in Arrima and submit what Quebec calls a Declaration of Interest (DOI).
The Declaration of Interest works differently from a first-come, first-served queue. Your DOI profile sits in Arrima’s pool of candidates, and Quebec periodically draws from that pool, issuing invitations to apply to candidates whose profiles meet the criteria for a given round. Only after receiving an invitation does a candidate submit a full PSTQ application. This two-stage structure is why the FEER classification, work experience, and French proficiency details covered earlier matter before you touch a full application; they determine whether your DOI profile is competitive enough to be drawn.
Because Arrima and the DOI process operate primarily through Quebec’s official French-language government channels, confirm the exact current profile fields, required documents, and submission steps directly through Quebec’s official immigration website before building your Arrima profile.
Credential Recognition: Does a WES ECA Work for Quebec
If you already hold an Educational Credential Assessment from World Education Services, know that WES ECAs are built primarily for federal Express Entry purposes. Quebec runs its own comparative evaluation process for the credentials PSTQ applicants present, separate from the federal system WES ECAs are designed for.
That separation matters in practice. Do not assume a WES ECA automatically satisfies whatever credential evaluation PSTQ requires. Provincial and federal credential evaluation processes are administered independently. Verify the current credential evaluation requirement directly on Quebec’s official immigration website rather than assuming your federal-purpose assessment carries over.
Decision Flowchart: Matching Your Profile to a Stream
With every stream’s mechanics covered, here is how to walk through your own profile step by step.
- Start with your occupation’s FEER level. Confirm the FEER classification for the occupation you actually work in, not the occupation your degree theoretically qualifies you for. FEER 0, 1, or 2 points toward Stream 1. FEER 3, 4, or 5 points toward Stream 2.
- Check whether your profession is regulated. If your occupation requires membership in a Quebec professional order or licensing body to practice, Stream 3 governs your path regardless of where your FEER level would otherwise place you.
- Confirm your credential level matches your FEER-indicated stream. Stream 1 requires a qualifying credential from vocational through doctorate level; confirm yours qualifies before assuming eligibility.
- Total your recent work experience. Stream 1 needs at least 1 year within the preceding 5 years. Stream 2 needs at least 2 years within the preceding 5 years, with at least 1 of those years earned specifically in Quebec.
- Test or confirm your French level on the Echelle quebecoise. Stream 1 needs oral level 7 and written level 5. Stream 2 needs oral level 5. Neither is waived by an English-medium background.
- If nothing above fits cleanly, consider whether Stream 4 applies. With only 55 invitations issued across all of 2025, treat exceptional talent as a narrow category rather than a fallback option.
Once you have walked through those six checks, you should know which stream to build your Arrima profile around, and which requirement needs your attention first. If a professional-licensing question is part of your situation, knowing when a licensed immigration consultant is worth the cost is worth deciding early, given how document-heavy PSTQ is. Consult a licensed professional, such as a regulated immigration consultant or lawyer, for advice specific to your situation before submitting a Declaration of Interest or a full PSTQ application.
You now have the mechanics: four streams, the FEER classification that sorts you between them, the French bar each one sets, and what the 2025 invitation numbers say about real competitiveness. The assessment linked on this page can walk through how your specific profile lines up in more detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
The PSTQ has 4 streams. Which one should I apply to?
Start with your occupation’s FEER level, not your degree. Stream 1 covers FEER 0, 1, or 2 occupations and needs at least 1 year of recent work experience plus French oral level 7 and written level 5. Stream 2 covers FEER 3, 4, or 5 occupations and needs at least 2 years of recent work experience, including 1 year in Quebec, plus French oral level 5. Stream 3 is for regulated professions and Stream 4 targets exceptional talent.
What is a FEER level and how does it decide which PSTQ stream I qualify for?
FEER stands for Formation, Etudes, Experience et Responsabilites, Quebec’s occupation classification system. Every occupation gets a FEER level based on the training, education, experience, and responsibility it typically requires. Stream 1 is open only to FEER 0, 1, or 2 occupations; Stream 2 only to FEER 3, 4, or 5. A strong degree does not override this.
Do I need French to immigrate through Quebec if my program was in English?
Yes. Quebec requires French proficiency on the Echelle quebecoise scale regardless of the language your program or work experience was in. Stream 1 requires oral level 7 or higher and written level 5 or higher. Stream 2 requires oral level 5 or higher. An English-medium degree does not reduce or waive this.
I got an ECA from WES. Do I need a separate one for Quebec?
A WES Educational Credential Assessment is built for federal Express Entry purposes and is not automatically the same evaluation Quebec uses for PSTQ. Quebec runs its own comparative evaluation process. Confirm the current requirement directly on the official Quebec immigration website before assuming your WES ECA satisfies it.
Is the PEQ really gone for good, or could it come back?
The PEQ permanently closed on November 19, 2025, then Quebec reopened it on July 2, 2026. Despite the reopening, officials describe the PSTQ, not the PEQ, as the province’s intended long-term primary economic immigration pathway. Treat the PEQ as a parallel track rather than assuming it has replaced PSTQ as Quebec’s main route to permanent residence.