Announced in January 2024, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) Policy on Francophone Immigration aims to enhance the long-term vitality and prosperity of Francophone minority communities (FMC). It covers five action areas that chart a clear path forward to ensure the continued priority of Francophone immigration within IRCC and support the Government of Canada’s commitment to restoring and increasing the demographic weight of FMCs.
In order to put forward a coherent and strategic approach, the Policy plans to establish structured engagement on Francophone immigration with federal departments, provincial and territorial governments and community stakeholders. As a key action area of the Policy, multi-stakeholder collaboration aims to:
Develop an interdepartmental engagement plan for Francophone immigration as part of an inclusive and antiracist whole-of-society approach to immigration to Canada, which involves several federal institutions;
Foster increased collaboration with provincial and territorial governments so as to strengthen bilateral and multilateral commitments to Francophone immigration; and
Enhance collaboration, improve exchange and advance common objectives with Francophone communities through a formal IRCC-Francophone Minority Communities Committee.
In addition, to open the door to more French-speaking immigrants, the Department announced a two-year expansion of the Francophone Mobility Program in June 2023, which allows Canadian employers to make an Labour Market Impact Assessment-exempt job offer to an eligible candidate with a moderate command of French for all National Occupation Classifications, with the exception of certain jobs in primary agriculture. This gives foreign nationals the opportunity to gain Canadian work experience and qualify for permanent residence, further to the Government of Canada’s objective of contributing to the vitality of FMCs throughout Canada, outside of Quebec.
Key Messages
The success of the immigration journey of French-speaking immigrants depends on close collaboration between federal departments, provincial and territorial (PT) governments and stakeholders. Since the launch of the Policy on Francophone Immigration in January 2024, the Department has put forward several initiatives to enhance multi-stakeholder collaboration.
Since the launch of the Policy, IRCC has been able to improve collaboration with community stakeholders, particularly through the renewed IRCC-FMC Committee (co-chaired by the Director General of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne and the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Settlement, Integration and Francophone Affairs Sector at IRCC). With renewed terms of reference signed by both parties on May 30, 2024, the committee members laid the foundations for collaboration on the implementation of the Policy on Francophone Immigration and the Community Strategic Plan.
On June 20, 2024, IRCC launched an Interdepartmental Committee on Francophone Immigration in mid-June 2024 which will promote the development and implementation of collaboration options (interdepartmental partnerships) in direct support of the measures put forward in the Policy. At the next meeting scheduled for November 13, 2024, IRCC will present the new tools promoting interdepartmental collaboration, including the GCcollab page.
The Department is aware that working towards restoring the demographic weight of Francophone communities depends on several factors other than international migration. Some are beyond the mandate and jurisdiction of IRCC and require the involvement and consultation of several federal partners.
On April 22, 2024, Canadian Heritage and IRCC launched the Interdepartmental Working Group on the Restoration of the Demographic Weight of FMCs, the objective of which will be to optimize federal initiatives positively affecting the evolution of the demographic weight. Scheduled for October 29, 2024, a Dialogue Day bringing together federal departments and community stakeholders will help establish a path forward for joint efforts.
Aiming to strengthen horizontal and interdepartmental collaboration, Employment and Social Development Canada will set up the Working Group on Workforce and Economic Development in Official Language Minority Communities (OLMCs), including labour needs in FMCs. On October 17 and 18, 2024 in Montreal, dialogue sessions are planned with key stakeholders from OLMCs to gather their recommendations for the development of multi-stakeholder partnerships.
PTs hold important levers in matters of immigration. Through the Forum of Ministers Responsible for Immigration and its working group on Francophone immigration, IRCC already engaged with its partners with the objective of renewing the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Action Plan aimed at increasing Francophone immigration outside Quebec adopted in 2018. Also, IRCC seeks to reinforce commitments to Francophone immigration in future bilateral immigration agreements with PTs as outlined in the Policy on Francophone Immigration. Currently, New Brunswick and Ontario’s agreements have annexes specifically related to francophone immigrants.
Always eager to adequately respond to specific local and regional needs, IRCC will set up a Working Group on Labour Needs within FMCs which will involve Employment and Social Development Canada as well as PT counterparts, in order to maximize (both domestically and abroad) promotion and recruitment support activities, as well as the selection of French-speaking and bilingual workers in key sectors of the Canadian economy.
