Maple News reports that the Canadian government is introducing a new immigration pilot designed to attract more Francophone international students to communities across the country. The Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot (FMCSP), launched by Immigration Minister Marc Miller, offers a direct pathway to permanent residency for eligible French-speaking students and their families.
Set to open on August 26, 2024, the pilot will initially accept 2,300 students in its first year, with the intake to be reassessed in August 2025. Unlike other international student streams, participants in the FMCSP will benefit from relaxed visa requirements. Specifically, they will not need to prove they intend to return to their home country after their studies, and financial requirements will be lowered to 75% of the low-income cut-off for the city where their designated learning institution (DLI) is based.
To be eligible, applicants must be citizens of one of 36 listed French-speaking countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, Haiti, Morocco, and Senegal. Students must also secure admission to a qualified DLI and be enrolled in a full-time French-language post-secondary program that leads to a diploma or degree and spans at least two years.
Participants in the pilot may bring family members, who themselves may qualify for open work permits, visitor visas, or study permits. Notably, FMCSP students are also exempt from Canada’s recent changes affecting international students, including the federal cap on study permits and the requirement to obtain a Provincial Attestation Letter (PAL).
The pilot aligns with Canada’s broader push to strengthen its Francophone immigration policy outside of Quebec. In line with this, Minister Miller also announced the expansion of the Welcoming Francophone Communities (WFC) initiative, adding 10 new communities to the network. These include cities across British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and Ontario. The total number of participating communities under the WFC program now stands at 24.
This move supports the federal government’s Official Language Act, which mandates measures to increase the demographic weight of French-speaking communities outside Quebec. IRCC has also set a target for 6% of all newcomers to Canada to be French-speaking and continues to prioritize Francophone candidates in Express Entry draws through its category-based selection system.
Liane Roy, President of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, praised the new initiatives, saying they underscore the commitment of Francophone and Acadian communities to fostering integration and inclusion for newcomers.
Through the FMCSP and the expansion of support networks like the WFC, Canada reinforces its dual-language identity while addressing labor needs and demographic challenges in minority Francophone regions.