Temporary Foreign Worker Program Overview

This page addresses immigrants who want to come to Québec to work there temporarily.

If you are a Québec employer and want to recruit labour on a temporary basis, consult the section Embaucher un travailleur étranger temporaire (Hire a temporary foreign worker) section.

The Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) allows Canadian employers to hire you as a temporary foreign worker. For this purpose, you and your employer must comply with certain conditions.

To work under the TFWP, you must first receive a job offer from a Québec employer. You and your employer must meet certain conditions. 

The program includes the following streams:

• Global Talent Stream
• High-wage positions
• Low-wage positions
• Agricultural sector
• Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program
• Home Health Care Providers

Your employer is responsible for determining the stream they offer you. Then the employer must:

• Submit a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) and obtain joint authorization from the Gouvernement du Québec and the Government of Canada to hire you.

You must obtain the following documents to come to work temporarily in Québec:

• A Québec Acceptance Certificate (CAQ), issued by the Gouvernement du Québec
• A work permit, issued by the Government of Canada.

To obtain a CAQ, you must:  

• Live in Québec to temporarily fill a job:
  • for a business established in Québec over which you exercise no control,
  • that is not in an ineligible sector:  
    • pawnbroking,
    • check cashing or payday loans,
    • production, distribution or sale of pornographic or sexually explicit products,
    • services related to the sex industry such as nude or erotic dancing, escort services or erotic massages;
• Be at least 18 years of age;
• Have concluded a written work contract with an employer in Québec whose job offer was subject to an LMIA;
• Meet the eligibility conditions stipulated in the National Occupational Classification (NOC) to perform the job;
• Meet all specific conditions, stipulated by the employer in the job offer.

If you wish to practise a regulated profession that on theMinistère's Liste des professions réglementées (PDF 262 Kb) (list of regulated professions), but do not meet all of the eligibility conditions stipulated in the NOC, you must meet one of the following requirements:  

• Be authorized to practise this profession in Québec;
• Have training or a diploma that is recognized, in part or in whole, by the regulatory authority of this profession in Québec, within the last five years. This recognition must enable you to quickly complete the process to obtain authorization to practise the profession or to occupy a job while you carry out this process.