CIMM - Francophone Immigration Outside Quebec

Key Messages

• This Government is a champion of Canada’s two official languages and recognizes that immigration is key to strengthening Canada’s Francophone minority communities.
• My Department takes its responsibilities seriously; we aim to increase francophone immigration to reach a target of 4.4% of French-speaking immigrants outside Quebec by 2023.
• We are looking at measures to see how best to help meet that target.

Supplementary Messages

• Recent changes to selection tools, including changes in 2017 to assign additional points to candidates with strong French-language skills under Express Entry, have been increasing French-speaking admissions outside of Quebec.
• The Department is also pursuing year-round targeted promotion and recruitment support activities to attract a growing number of qualified French-speaking candidates.
• As of 2019, a more accurate and inclusive definition of Francophone has been used to count French-speaking immigrants, resulting in a notable impact on admission data. The new definition moves away from the concept of “mother tongue” and focuses instead on first Canadian official language most at ease.

Supporting Facts And Figures

• In 2016, more than 1 million Francophones in Canada were living outside Quebec, representing 3.8% of the population. Unless actions are taken, the proportion could decrease to 3% by 2036 (Statistics Canada, 2016 Census). Immigration is one of the solutions to address the demographic decline.
• From 2003 to 2019, over 60,000 French-speaking immigrants were admitted to Canada (outside Quebec) - about 8,400 in 2019 only.
• In 2019, about 5,500 French-speaking permanent resident admissions outside Quebec were selected via the Economic Class, representing approximately two-thirds (65%) of all French-speaking admissions outside Quebec.
• In 2019, the vast majority of French-speaking economic admissions outside Quebec were under the federal high-skilled programs (58%), including Express Entry, and the Provincial Nominee Program (39%). For the same year, French-speaking admissions under Express Entry represented 52% of all French-speaking admissions outside Quebec.

Background

• In March 2019, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship announced the Meeting our Objectives: Francophone Immigration Strategy with a goal of achieving a target of 4.4% of French-speaking immigrants outside Quebec by 2023. The Strategy lies on five pillars covering the continuum of immigration, from attraction to selection and retention of French-speaking newcomers outside Quebec.
• The Government of Canada offers multiple pathways for economic migrants, including French-speaking foreign nationals, to come to Canada outside Quebec, both temporarily and permanently.
• On the temporary side, in June 2016, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada launched Mobilité Francophone that exempts employers from the Labour Market Impact Assessment process when they hire French-speaking workers from abroad to undertake skilled work outside of Quebec. Under Mobilité Francophone, French-speaking foreign nationals gain Canadian work experience, which can help them qualify for permanent residence.
• On the permanent side, French-speaking foreign nationals can apply to all economic immigration programs. As part of the Economic Class, they are selected based on human capital characteristics (e.g., Canada’s official language proficiency, education) and identified labour market needs. Economic immigration programs allow for the selection of immigrants across a range of skill levels and who meet labour market and economic needs, at both the national and provincial levels.
• As part of the Department’s Francophone Immigration Strategy, in collaboration with provinces and territories, the Department is advancing the Federal/Provincial/ Territorial Action Plan for Increasing Francophone Immigration Outside of Quebec. The Action Plan outlines concrete actions for attracting, integrating and retaining French-speaking immigrants outside Quebec.
• In addition, a number of provinces and territories (e.g., Ontario and New Brunswick) have targets in place to increase the number of French-speaking newcomers in their respective jurisdictions. Provinces and territories use various strategies to achieve their targets, which may include targeted Provincial Nominee Program streams for French-speaking candidates.