Church Point, Nova Scotia-Francophone immigration plays a crucial role in strengthening our national identity. This is why Canada is redoubling its efforts to welcome French-speaking newcomers who will enrich the linguistic, social, cultural and economic fabric of Francophone minority communities (FMCs).
Today, the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced that the new Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot (FMCSP) program will be launched on August 26, 2024, in partnership with designated French-language and bilingual post-secondary learning institutions (DLIs). Minister Miller also announced the addition of 10 communities to the Welcoming Francophone Communities (WFC) initiative. The Minister made these announcements on the occasion of the Acadian World Congress, in Nova Scotia.
Canada recognizes that large pools of French-speaking international students exist in Africa, the Middle East and the Americas, and that the study permit approval rate in these regions has been low in the past. Thanks to the new pilot program, we will make access to Canada's International Student Program fairer for a wide range of international students.
The pilot program is a flagship measure of the Policy on Francophone Immigration announced earlier this year and will benefit FMCs by helping them attract and retain international students. To improve the approval rate, students and their families will be exempted from having to demonstrate that they will leave Canada at the end of their temporary stay. In addition, the required financial threshold will be adjusted to reflect 75% of the low-income cut-off associated with the municipality where the institution's main campus is located.
Pilot program participants will also benefit from a direct pathway from temporary to permanent status after obtaining their diploma, and they will have access to settlement services while they're studying to help them integrate successfully into their communities. With their proficiency in French and their Canadian education, graduates will be able to contribute to the Canadian labour market and enrich FMCs across the country.
Although an annual cap for most study permit applications was established on January 22, 2024, the FMCSP is not included in the overall cap. Each participating DLI will be allocated a limited number of acceptance letters that can be issued for the purpose of processing study permits under the pilot program.
The maximum number of study permit applications that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will accept under the pilot program is 2,300 for the first year. A cap for the second year of the pilot program will be set by August 2025.
Ten additional Welcoming Francophone Communities
On January 16, 2024, IRCC announced a series of ambitious and historic measures to encourage francophone immigration to FMCs. Among these measures is the renewal and expansion of the WFC Initiative.
The new WFCs were selected after a community consensus-building process under the leadership of the Francophone Immigration Networks and the Association francophone des municipalités du Nouveau-Brunswick, supported by the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada.
The selection of each community was based on its potential to become a more welcoming and inclusive Francophone community. In other words, it has a French-speaking population and creates an environment where French-speaking newcomers to Canada feel that their identity is valued, and where they feel integrated into the host community.
With these new communities, a total of 24 WFCs across Canada will be well equipped to extend a helpful and warm welcome to French-speaking newcomers and to support their integration process in their new living environment.
By welcoming students from a diversified group of countries and accentuating cooperation with community partners to provide good service to Francophone immigrants outside Quebec, we are taking one more step toward the achievement of ambitious objectives in Francophone immigration for the years ahead.
The new communities are as follows:
