CIMM – Inquiry of ministry – October 24, 2023

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Question No.
Q-1552

By
M. Brunelle-Duceppe (Lac-Saint-Jean)

Date
May 29, 2023

The Honourable Marc Miller

Question

With regard to the approval rate of francophone foreign students: (a) what is the number of study permit applications (excluding applications for extensions) processed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada for (i) 2022, (ii) 2023 (most recent data), and broken down by country of residence; and (b) on what figures and according to what calculation did the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship base her claim on May 18, 2023, that the “approval rate for francophone students from Africa went from 27 percent in 2022 to 35 percent this year”?

Reply

Insofar as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is concerned:

With regards to question a)(i)(ii) please consult Annex A.

With regards to question b) on how the approval was calculated, please consult Annex B.

IRCC offices in Africa are making targeted promotional efforts to improve the quality of the applications received and thus increase approval rates. In 2021 for example, the Department piloted a new project in Senegal with the Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne to promote studies at Francophone colleges and universities outside Quebec. This collaborative promotion via webinars has since been mirrored in 2022 and 2023 within the Maghreb and Sub-Saharan Africa.

From January to September 2022, the Department organized or participated in over 400 activities in Africa.