Minister Miller marks the International Day of La Francophonie

“Today, we are proud to celebrate the International Day of La Francophonie. This day is an opportunity for all Canadians to celebrate the linguistic duality that is at the heart of our national identity, and to reflect on the importance of the French language that links us to so many communities around the world. It’s also an opportunity to highlight the importance of French­speaking newcomers who choose to settle in Canada, and who are essential to the economic, cultural and linguistic development of their new communities."

Ottawa, March 20, 2024 —The Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, issued the following statement:

“Today, we are proud to celebrate the International Day of La Francophonie. This day is an opportunity for all Canadians to celebrate the linguistic duality that is at the heart of our national identity, and to reflect on the importance of the French language that links us to so many communities around the world. It’s also an opportunity to highlight the importance of French-speaking newcomers who choose to settle in Canada, and who are essential to the economic, cultural and linguistic development of their new communities.

“Ensuring the vitality of the French language in Canada will always be a priority. That’s why we’re doing everything we can to promote the vitality and economic development of Francophone minority communities. In January 2024, we unveiled our new Policy on Francophone Immigration which, through concrete and innovative measures, will enable us to make progress towards restoring and increasing the demographic weight of these communities. The implementation of all the immigration measures in the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023–2028 further demonstrates our commitment to supporting the vitality of Canada’s Francophone communities.

“We recently announced the implementation of a new Francophone Community Immigration Pilot. Aligned with the goals of the new Francophone immigration policy, this project will support the demographic growth of Francophone minority communities by enabling them to play a role in attracting, selecting and retaining Francophone and bilingual foreign workers.

“We also announced earlier this year that we had exceeded our target of 4.4% admissions of French-speaking residents outside Quebec, reaching 4.7% in 2023. Work is well underway to achieve even more ambitious targets over the next few years, namely 6% in 2024, 7% in 2025 and 8% in 2026. In particular, we can count on the Express Entry system and the Francophone Mobility program to facilitate the arrival of qualified French-speaking immigrants.

“While there's still work to be done, I’m convinced that by working together with our community, government and international partners, we’ll help energize and strengthen our Francophone communities across the country. I encourage you to express your pride in the French language, which contributes to our country’s linguistic duality, and to promote the language we hold so dear. I also invite you to recognize the valuable contribution of French-speaking immigrants to the vitality of Canadian communities from coast to coast.”

Find out more about the Express Entry system and the Francophone Mobility program.

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