LANG – Centre for Innovation on Francophone Immigration – December 6, 2022

Key Messages

On March 13, 2022, the Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency introduced an Act to amend the Official Languages Act (OLA) (Bill C-13) to modernize and strengthen the OLA. In addition to legislative amendments included in the Bill, this modernization is coupled with a series of proposed key administrative measures across the government, to foster momentum on Francophone immigration outside of Quebec.
During consultations led by Canadian Heritage on the renewal of the Official Languages Action Plan, Francophone stakeholders have expressed their interest in being more involved in the entire immigration continuum, from promotion and recruitment to retention, in addition to the existing settlement and integration services.
On November 10, 2022, IRCC announced a new Centre for Innovation in Francophone Immigration (the “Centre”) in Dieppe, New Brunswick. The Centre will reinforce the Department’s partnership with Francophone communities, facilitate their participation in promotion and the selection of Francophone immigrants, and support the Department’s goal to increase French-speaking admissions, supporting Francophone communities demographic weight and their vitality.
This Centre will also be an avenue to bring together partners and facilitate the testing of innovative ideas and projects and sharing best practices.

On August 13, 2021, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, the Honourable Dominic Leblanc and the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor announced the Government’s intention to create a Centre on immigration in south-east New Brunswick.
The Department recognizes the need to innovate and do things differently to support Francophone immigration, not only in Atlantic Canada, but also across the country.
As such, the Centre for Innovation in Francophone Immigration will be national in scope and will help to make immigration programs more accessible to increase the number of French-speaking candidates selected; better meet the bilingual workforce needs; and, support international promotion efforts to attract and recruit French-speaking candidates in our labour market.
IRCC aims to invest $12.9 million over 4 years to establish the Dieppe Centre, then $5.6 million each year beyond that to ensure the implementation of the programming. Note that the investment could be higher depending on the scope of the programming
There is a strong rationale to establish the Centre in New Brunswick, the only bilingual province, with ambitious targets in francophone immigration. In addition, a physical presence for IRCC will favour building collaborative relationships with intergovernmental and community partners.

Several measures have been put in place to support Francophone immigration, including, but not limited to, the introduction of additional points allocated to French-speaking and bilingual candidates under the Express Entry system in 2020, the time-limited Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident Pathway in 2021, and the enhancement of promotional activities in Canada and abroad. This Centre is complementary to current departmental measures. It will aim to engage and work collaboratively with external stakeholders.
As part of the Action Plan for Official Languages consultations, stakeholders also pointed to a lack of capacity to do effective promotion of immigration opportunities in their various communities. Stakeholders noted that employer engagement is insufficient to drive French-speaking immigrants to available jobs.
Francophone community stakeholders were quite clear during the Action Plan for Official Languages consultations that they need more support in order to better promote themselves to help attract more Francophone and bilingual immigrants. The Centre will serve to help fill that gap, at least in part, as it will also aim to offer more support to various stakeholders groups, including Francophone minority communities and economic development groups.