Canada’s commitment to linguistic diversity is an integral part of its identity as a nation. As a bilingual nation, with English and French both recognized as official languages, Canada has long placed importance on promoting and preserving the French language and culture, not just within Quebec but across all provinces. The importance of bilingualism is exemplified through Canada’s approach to francophone immigration.
This blog post will explore Francophone immigration to Canada and will highlight key aspects of Canada’s new pilot program for francophone students.
Canada has specific targets for francophone immigration outside of Quebec. The country sought to achieve an immigration target of 4.4% French-speaking immigrants outside of Quebec by 2023, which was achieved in 2022. This target has now been increased, with the goal being 6% in 2024, 7% in 2025, and 8% in 2026.
In order to achieve these goals, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has created selection criteria in immigration programs like Express Entry that give additional consideration to fluent French speakers. There is further support from the Canadian Government through programs like the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023-2028, which committed more than $4.1 billion dollars over the next five years to reverse the decline of French and promote the minority language communities.
The goal of promoting francophone immigration outside of Quebec has resulted in Canada unveiling a new pilot program specifically for francophone immigrants.
On August 14, 2024, Minister of Immigration Marc Miller made an announcement that a new pilot program for francophone students had been created. The new pilot program is called the Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot and was launched on August 26, representing a short turnaround from the announcement of the program to the launch of the program. The pilot program will partner with designated French-language and bilingual post-secondary learning institutions.
The program will accept up to 2,300 students during its first year in operation. In August 2025, the cap will be reassessed and may be changed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
The pilot program will allow applicants to go to study in communities that are part of the Welcoming Francophone Communities initiative. As part of the announcement for the pilot program, it was announced that 10 new communities in Canada are being added to the Welcoming Francophone Communities initiative. The initiative aims to support the reception and settlement of French-speaking newcomers in included communities. The support provided to those who are part of the program includes community building, skills development, employment assistance and more. According to the Canadian Government, the initiative fosters the creation of ties and the development of a sense of belonging among newcomers to their host community.
Currently, this initiative already has 14 communities included, which vary from large cities like Calgary to smaller, more remote cities like Iqaluit. The new communities are being added to the program. The communities being added are Chéticamp in Nova Scotia, Belle-Baie, Caraquet and Restigouce West Region in New Brunswick, Cornwall, Cochrane District (Highway 11 Corridor) and London in Ontario, Rivière-Rouge in Manitoba, Prince Albert in Saskatchewan and Nanaimo in British Columbia. There are now a total of 24 different communities that applicants can live in.
In order to be eligible for the Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot, students who are applying must have a letter of acceptance from a participating Designated Learning Institution that says that they are applying as part of the Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot.
The study program that the potential student applies to attend must also meet certain requirements. Those requirements are that the applicant’s chosen program of study must be at the post-secondary level, the applicant must be a full-time student, the program must have a duration of two or more years, the program must lead to a degree or diploma and the program must have French as the primary language of instruction, which means that over 50% of the classes are taught in French.
Under the Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot students must be citizens from an eligible country to apply. The countries that are included as part of the pilot are Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominica, Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Lebanon, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, São Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Togo, and Tunisia.
Notably, people who participate in the Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot do not need to provide a provincial attestation letter or territorial attestation letter with their study permit application, like other study permit applicants are now required to. Students under the program will also not count towards the provincial and territorial caps on study permits that were implemented earlier this year.
Students and their family members who come to Canada as part of the program will not be required to demonstrate that they will leave Canada at the end of their study permit. Spouses and common-law partners of the principal applicants can also come to Canada as part of the pilot program and eventually apply for permanent residence.
The required financial threshold for application under the Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot is to be adjusted to 75% of the low-income cut-off associated with the community where the Designated Learning Institution’s main campus is located.
The talented and compassionate immigration lawyers at Garson Immigration Law are highly experienced in helping our clients navigate the complexities associated with various immigration matters. We provide honest, trusted opinions and work with prospective newcomers to Canada in order to provide them with the best chance of making successful applications to come to Canada. Our lawyers work with clients to develop effective, pragmatic solutions in all immigration matters, including permanent residence, citizenship, and US immigration. To arrange a confidential consultation regarding your immigration matter, contact us online or call our office at 416-321-2860.
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