Canada’s Immigration Minister announced key initiatives to promote Francophone immigration from pre-arrival to citizenship. Promoting Francophone immigration is a priority for the Government of Canada.
Immigrants proficient in one of Canada’s official languages are more likely to successfully establish economically in Canada. Demonstrating those skills are required to become an economic immigrant.
IRCC is creating an $11 million 5-year collaborative partnership with la Cité that will provide pre-arrival services to French-speaking newcomers. La Cité will act as the primary point of contact for French-speaking newcomers, while 4 regional partners will provide province-specific and other tailored information. La Cité is the largest French-language college in Ontario.
Minister Hussen announced that the Centre international d’études pédagogiques has been designated as a second French-language tester for economic immigrants, starting in December 2018. Having a second French-language tester should help make the tests more accessible and affordable.
As announced in Budget 2018, and included in the Official Languages Action Plan, the Government will invest almost $36.6 million over the next 5 years on a Francophone Integration Pathway, creating lasting ties between French-speaking newcomers and Francophone minority communities. On November 19, IRCC will launch an expression of interest process seeking an organization to deliver official language training for French-speaking immigrants and allophone newcomers who have declared French as their official language of preference, in Francophone minority communities. And in the coming weeks, as many as 14 communities across Canada will be selected as part of a Welcoming Francophone Communities initiative to create a space where French-speaking newcomers will feel welcome.
The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau said
English and French, our two official languages, are at the heart of our identity as a country. The contributions of official-language minority communities are vital to Canada’s success, said Prime Minister of Canada.
He said, “We believe in two official languages and in a pluralist society not merely as a political necessity but as an enrichment.” Our government believes this as well and will spare no effort to ensure that our official languages continue to play an important role for the benefit of all Canadians.
Decline in Francophones
Statistics Canada projections show the percentage of Francophones outside of Quebec declining from 4% in 2011 to 3% by 2036. The rate of bilingualism of Anglophones outside of Quebec will go from 6.6% to 6.7% for the same period.
In Canada, we have more than 1 million Francophones living outside Quebec and over 1.1 million Anglophones living in Quebec. While these populations are vibrant and continue to grow, some of the trends are concerning, including:
- A decline in the percentage of Francophones outside Quebec.
- Challenges facing English-speaking rural communities in Quebec.
- Slow growth of bilingualism among English-speaking Canadians outside of Quebec.
Despite a sustained government commitment to support official languages in Canada, existing investments are not enough to reverse these trends. We need to take further action. That is why the Prime Minister has instructed the Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Honourable Mélanie Joly, to develop a new action plan for official languages to invest in the future of our linguistic duality and our bilingualism.
This new action plan span from pre-arrival to citizenship, to ensure the successful integration and retention of French-speaking immigrants within Francophone communities and to enhance the vitality of these communities.
Canada’s new Action Plan for Official Languages 2018-2023 represents a new investment of $499.2 million over five years, the first important investment since 2003. This includes the $410 million in new funds introduced with Budget 2018 as well as $89.2 million in new investments announced in 2017. These new investments bring total government funding for official languages to a record high of $2.7 billion over five years.
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