Francophone Mobility: Advantages for employers

Find out how Francophone Mobility makes it easier for Canadian employers to hire French-speaking workers outside of Quebec.

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Transcript: “Francophone Mobility: Advantages for employers”

Video length: 7:36 minutes

Soft music is heard in the background as we see an aerial view of Ottawa’s Parliament in the summer. The music then becomes livelier.

Next, we see a frontal view of Parliament and the Centennial Flame.

Moving on, we see a side view of Toronto, with a boat floating on the lake.

narrator: In 2016, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada launched the new Mobilité Francophone stream of the International Mobility Program.

Text displays: “Mobilité Francophone”.

We see an aerial view of various waving flags.

narrator: This new stream has made it easier and simpler for employers in all Canadian provinces and territories outside of Quebec to hire qualified Francophone professionals.

The shot changes to a businessman walking through a modern building. We then see a woman working in her office. We see people working in various environments, including a man welding, two men on a work site and a group of women in a meeting room.

narrator: This stream exempts employers from the labour market impact study usually required when foreign workers are hired. Foreign nationals are eligible, regardless of country or age group, as long as they are fluent in French. This is of benefit to small and large English- and French-speaking companies, as it enables them to hire candidates for management, supervisory, professional and skilled technical trades positions.

We see other people working as specialists in a laboratory, followed by a woman sitting outside and working on her computer, two men in an office looking at a tablet, a woman in a hospital helping a patient, and a group of women conversing near their open plan offices, along with other women in an office meeting.

Next, we see a group of women meeting in a boardroom. We see a low-angle shot of some buildings in the city’s downtown. The shot returns to two of the women in the meeting room. We now see them head on. Next, we see a man who appears to be giving instructions to a woman. Finally, we see two men working in a laboratory.

Morocco and its flag are shown on a world map. A line extends from Morocco, ending in Ottawa, Canada.

narrator: Here are examples of how Mobilité Francophone has helped communities.

We see an aerial shot shows Canada’s flag on Parliament Hill, Ottawa.

Lively music is heard.

With a street view displayed in the background, “Ottawa” is displayed in giant letters.

Text displays: “Ottawa, Ontario”.

We can see an extreme wide-shot and then a frontal shot of the bakery “Le Moulin de Provence”, which is situated in the Byward Market in Ottawa. After that, we see a close-up on the doors for the bakery.

We see a close-up shot of the words “Pâtisserie” and “Café Bistro.”

Text displays: ‘’Claude Bonnet, Owner, Le Moulin de Provence’’.

Claude Bonnet speaks to the camera.

Claude Bonnet (speaking in French): My company is a bakery, pastry, catering company. I have 74 employees, 7 of whom have been hired through Mobilité Francophone, an organization that has guided me well in finding employees to keep the company afloat. These employees are highly motivated; they come from outside Canada and they have the opportunity to come with their families, which is really important if you want to get people to immigrate.

We see several shots of Claude Bonnet and an employee speaking in the bakery.

Products of the bakery are in display.

Claude Bonnet (speaking in French): It takes them a few weeks to get through the process, which is relatively fast. We are all very satisfied. It’s a valuable service, which helps our company enormously. With the help of Mobilité Francophone, we were able to find resources abroad that allowed us to keep our company running.

Claude Bonnet is speaking to the camera again.

Claude Bonnet (speaking in French): Thanks to Mobilité Francophone for their extraordinary support.

We see the front of the building.

We see a frontal view of Rachid Mazhour, an employee of the bakery. Machines and loaves of bread are seen in the background.

Text displays: “Rachid Mazhour, Head Baker, Le Moulin de Provence”.

Rachid is making bread. There are various shots of Rachid throughout the baking process.

We see several products that are on display.

A woman is shown preparing something in the bakery’s kitchen.

Rachid Mazhour (speaking in French): I started at the age of 18, in a French bakery. After 13 years working in Morocco, I saw the job offer posted on the Internet. I applied on the spot, and one day later, there was Mr. Bonnet, the owner of the bakery, on the phone: “Well, Rachid, I need you.” I told him, “Okay, with pleasure, Mr. Bonnet.” He started the process with me to get my temporary work permit. Thanks to Mobilité Francophone, I now work here in Ottawa, and before long, I was able to bring my wife and son over. Now my wife works as a cook with me at the Moulin de Provence, and we are very happy.

France and its flag are shown on a world map. A line extends from France, ending in Halifax, Canada.

Lively folk music is heard.

We see waves hitting the shoreline in Halifax.

The shot changes to a lighthouse and a calm sea.

We then see a close-up of a bench by the sea. A city is visible in the background.

We see ships rocking in the waves at the wharf, with several buildings in the background.

Text displays: “Dartmouth, Nova Scotia”.

We see the perspective of a driver on a bridge.

A boat is sailing towards the waterfront.

We see low-angle shot of Halifax and a man running along the waterfront.

The shot then changes to a stuffed goat toy.

A woman is speaking in a daycare. In the background there is a banner that reads “Le petit voilier” as well as children’s handprints on the wall.

Text displays: “Sandra Laforge, Human Resources Advisor, Le petit voilier”.

Sandra Laforge (speaking in French): We manage 7 early childhood centres called Le petit voilier in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Among our 60 educators, we have 10 who came to us through Mobilité Francophone.

We see children doing activities in the daycare.

Sandra Laforge (speaking in French): That’s a large proportion of our staff. For the employer, it is much easier with Mobilité Francophone. The time and paperwork involved is much simpler to manage. Submitting the documentation for employees is also easier.

We see various shots of children playing.

We see drawings and artwork made by the children at the daycare.

Sandra Laforge (speaking in French): There’s a shortage of French-speaking educators here in Nova Scotia. It gives us the opportunity to go beyond Canada to find people who are already trained and qualified to come and work with us here.

Sandra Laforge is speaking to the camera.

Sandra Laforge (speaking in French): I highly recommend Mobilité Francophone to employers. It is faster and more efficient for both employers and candidates.

We see a low-angle daytime shot of a lamp and trees.

We then see a daytime shot of a canal.

There is a bus driving down a street.

We see a woman sitting in front of the camera, with in an empty cafeteria in the background.

Text displays: ‘’Tatiana Grandhomme, Educator, Le petit voilier’’.

Tatiana Grandhomme (speaking in French): I was a trained early childhood educator working in the suburbs of Paris. I saw the job posting for an educator position with Le Petit Voilier in Canada on the international employment site.

Various shots of Tatiana taking care of children are shown.

We see the children preparing to go outside.

The shot then changes to the children running outside. We then see Tatiana walking hand-in-hand with the children.

Tatiana Grandhomme (speaking in French): So it was an experience I wanted to try. For me and my spouse, it was a dream to go work abroad, and we thought that Canada was a good opportunity, so we came as a family. I first saw the posting on the international employment website. After that, I spoke with the director by Skype and met her again at the Destination Canada fair.

Tatiana is speaking to the camera.

Tatiana Grandhomme (speaking in French): In terms of the documentation to put together, there are a lot of papers for the immigration program, but then it's fairly quick to get the Mobilité Francophone visa.

Hands clapping and music can be heard in the background.

France and its flag are shown on a world map. A line extends from France, ending in Vancouver, Canada.

We see a wide shot of Vancouver from the waterfront.

People are looking First Nations totem poles.

The shot changes to show Vancouver’s waterfront skyscrapers.

We see a wide shot of a cluster of buildings and traffic in Burnaby.

Text displays: “Burnaby, British Columbia”.

We then see a building.

A woman in a corridor speaks to the camera.

Text displays: “Vivian Yuen, Immigration Program Manager, Electronic Arts Canada”.

Vivan Yuen: Electronic Arts is a global leader in digital interactive entertainment. We’re best known for critically-acclaimed videogame brands such as EA SPORTS FIFA, Madden NFL, The Sims, Battlefield and Dragon Age. Electronic Arts have placed thousands of people worldwide, and at our Canadian headquarters in Burnaby in the Vancouver area, seven of these employees went through the Mobilité Francophone program. This really adds to the diversity and rich culture at our studio.

We see shots of various video games. We then see decorated walls inside the building.

We see a soccer field outside the building.

We see walls filled with different artworks.

We see a basketball court inside the building.

Vivan Yuen: At our studio, we have a wide variety of openings, including software engineers, animators, artists, development directors, producers, and game designers. The Mobilité Francophone candidates must have the language skills to speak French, but they aren’t actually required to speak French here at work.

Vivian is in a meeting with a woman.

Vivan Yuen: Those who have come through the Mobilité Francophone program are great candidates to qualify eventually for permanent residence, given their French and English language ability, education and experience. Later they can continue working for Electronic Arts and contribute to Canadian society on a long-term basis.

Artworks hanging from the ceiling are shown.

Vivan Yuen: Mobilité Francophone is fast and efficient. Through Mobilité Francophone, we’ve been able to bring in highly-skilled workers to fill in our labour shortages for roles that we have not been able to fill with enough qualified Canadians.

Vivian is speaking to the camera.

Vivan Yuen: Mobilité Francophone is highly recommended.

We see a waterfront view of the city in the afternoon.

We see an aerial view of the entire city of Vancouver.

The music’s tempo changes.

Text displays: “Brendan Scalabrini, Associate Producer, Electronic Arts Canada”.

Brendan Scalabrini is speaking to the camera in a meeting room.

We see the interior of the Electronic Arts building.

Brendan Scalabrini (speaking in French): I’ve been a video game producer for just over five years. I am originally from France, and I’ve spent my entire career abroad, mainly because I wanted to travel, and the video industry allows me to do just that—travel pretty much anywhere in the world.

We see a man playing a video game.

We then see the games being played on the screen.

Brendan Scalabrini (speaking in French): I always wanted to do this, and to go to Canada, which is why I’m in this line of work. About 2 years ago, I spoke with a video game studio director, who told me that immigration is a very long process. But at least I didn’t give up, and last year I found… I saw an ad for the position of producer here on FIFA, Electronic Arts. So I applied for the job and, well, the rest is history. After that, I was put in contact with people who helped me with immigration through Mobilité Francophone, and it all went very quickly.

The soccer field from before is shown on screen.

Brendan is shown working.

People are walking along a waterfront.

We see ships on the water.

We see a long shot of a building in Vancouver.

Brendan Scalabrini (speaking in French): I would say, yes, since then it’s been a super-positive experience, and so I decided to come to Vancouver to live.

Brendan is speaking to the camera.

Brendan Scalabrini (speaking in French): It turned out to be a wise decision, and I’m now able to plan for a life in Canada. Which is wonderful.

We see a crowd of people walking in the street.

narrator: Mobilité Francophone contributes to Canada’s economic, social and cultural development. To learn more, visit canada.ca/francoimmigration.

Text displays: ‘’CANADA.CA/FRANCOIMMIGRATION’’.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada corporate signature along with the copyright message : “Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 2019” is shown.

The Canada wordmark is shown on a black background.