A member's spouse (primary applicant, NOC 5122, English and French speaker but no TEF taken yet) had a low chance under FSW, and they were looking at PNP options beyond OINP's French pathway, worried her NOC wasn't in demand in any province.
What the thread discussed:- Consider updating your Arrima (Quebec) profile even without a formal TEF score, since Quebec may weigh a bilingual profile favourably — Quebec runs its own separate immigration system (Arrima) distinct from federal Express Entry and other provinces' streams.
- NOC code does play a role in Quebec's Arrima system, similar to other PNPs — members confirmed Arrima does ask for NOC, though the group wasn't fully clear on exactly how demand and selection weighting works there.
- Creating a Quebec profile doesn't appear to negatively affect your other PNP options, since Quebec operates as a genuinely separate immigration entity from the rest of the federal/provincial system — though members suggested double-checking this doesn't create any unintended overlap issues for your specific situation.
- A recurring theme in the group: lacking a prior job offer is the core obstacle for many candidates trying to access most PNP streams, not just NOC demand — worth keeping in mind when evaluating your overall strategy.
The practical takeaway: if your NOC isn't in demand in most provinces but you have bilingual ability, don't overlook Quebec's Arrima portal as a genuinely separate track worth updating — and recognize that a missing job offer, more than NOC demand alone, is often the real bottleneck for PNP options.