Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has launched a Francophone Minorities Communities Student Pilot (FMCSP) to encourage even more immigrants to come to Canada. Immigration Minister Marc Miller this week announced the program, to be launched August 26. Most of the students will come from Africa. People from France are excluded. “Promoting French is of prime importance to us,” said Miller. Ottawa is spending $50 million on “francophone integration.”Small-town Canadian communities that will be targeted by the pilot program are Nanaimo, BC, Red River, MB, Chéticamp (including St. Joseph du Moine), NS, Belle-Baie (including Bathurst and the Pabineau First Nation), NB, Caraquet (including Rivière du Nord and Hautes-Terres), NB, Restigouche West Region (Saint-Quentin and Kedgwick), NB, Prince Albert, SK, Cornwall, ON, Cochrane District, ON, and London, ON. Incoming French-speaking international students will be exempt — along with their spouses or common-law partners and families (it is not specified whether this includes extended families, as seen in the Gaza visas) — from demonstrating a planned departure date. Rather, their stay in Canada is welcome to be permanent, said Miller. Plus, they don’t need to have as much money in the bank as with other visas. In fact, Ottawa has set the “financial threshold to reflect 75% of the low-income cut-off associated with the municipalities where the Designated Learning Institutions (DLI) — colleges and universities — have their main campuses,” according to federal website immigration.ca. .“By welcoming francophone immigrants and supporting them in their integration process, we contribute to the revitalization of these communities, while meeting their skilled workforce needs,” said Miller. “We are all the more determined to help more francophone international students come to Canada and build a future in our dynamic francophone communities, while contributing to the development of the French-speaking world.”Foreign students coming into Canada on an open-ended visa through the pilot program are exempt from the federal annual cap on student visas. Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault touted the program as amplifying the Trudeau Liberals’ stated goal of increasing “diversity” in Canada. “Supporting the vitality of our francophone communities in Canada also means welcoming French-speaking international students and immigrants,” said Boissonnault. “This is exactly what this pilot program does. It adds to the progress we’re making under the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023 to 2028 to strengthen francophone immigration and integration in French-speaking minority communities.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has launched a Francophone Minorities Communities Student Pilot (FMCSP) to encourage even more immigrants to come to Canada. Immigration Minister Marc Miller this week announced the program, to be launched August 26. Most of the students will come from Africa. People from France are excluded. “Promoting French is of prime importance to us,” said Miller. Ottawa is spending $50 million on “francophone integration.”Small-town Canadian communities that will be targeted by the pilot program are Nanaimo, BC, Red River, MB, Chéticamp (including St. Joseph du Moine), NS, Belle-Baie (including Bathurst and the Pabineau First Nation), NB, Caraquet (including Rivière du Nord and Hautes-Terres), NB, Restigouche West Region (Saint-Quentin and Kedgwick), NB, Prince Albert, SK, Cornwall, ON, Cochrane District, ON, and London, ON. Incoming French-speaking international students will be exempt — along with their spouses or common-law partners and families (it is not specified whether this includes extended families, as seen in the Gaza visas) — from demonstrating a planned departure date. Rather, their stay in Canada is welcome to be permanent, said Miller. Plus, they don’t need to have as much money in the bank as with other visas. In fact, Ottawa has set the “financial threshold to reflect 75% of the low-income cut-off associated with the municipalities where the Designated Learning Institutions (DLI) — colleges and universities — have their main campuses,” according to federal website immigration.ca. .“By welcoming francophone immigrants and supporting them in their integration process, we contribute to the revitalization of these communities, while meeting their skilled workforce needs,” said Miller. “We are all the more determined to help more francophone international students come to Canada and build a future in our dynamic francophone communities, while contributing to the development of the French-speaking world.”Foreign students coming into Canada on an open-ended visa through the pilot program are exempt from the federal annual cap on student visas. Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault touted the program as amplifying the Trudeau Liberals’ stated goal of increasing “diversity” in Canada. “Supporting the vitality of our francophone communities in Canada also means welcoming French-speaking international students and immigrants,” said Boissonnault. “This is exactly what this pilot program does. It adds to the progress we’re making under the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023 to 2028 to strengthen francophone immigration and integration in French-speaking minority communities.”
