Promoting Francophone Immigration in Canada: A New Law for Inclusivity and Diversity

In a remarkable step towards fostering inclusivity and diversity, Canada has recently passed a ground-breaking law aimed at promoting Francophone immigration. As a result of this legislation, Canada is demonstrating its commitment to its rich linguistic heritage, as well as its desire to welcome francophone individuals from around the globe.

Recently for the first time introduced new law acknowledges the significance of francophone immigration to francophone minority populations by introducing immigration in the Official Languages Act

The Official Languages Act (OLA) now includes immigration, thanks to Bill C-13. The OLA is the federal law that declared English and French to be Canada’s official languages. The new law updates the National Languages Act to acknowledge that French, as a Canadian national language, is in danger and needs to be safeguarded.

The Act has three parts:

• the first portion modifies the Official Languages Act;
• the second part governs the use of French in privately owned, federally regulated businesses; and
• the third part describes how the law will be used in practice.

Legislative modifications are among the immigration-related initiatives. In order to accomplish this, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada will need to create a French-language immigration policy with objectives, targets, and indicators. Also, it is the acceptance of immigration that supports sustaining or boosting the demographic weight of Francophone minority populations.

Moreover, the law also grants employees the right to work and be served in French in privately owned, federally controlled companies in Quebec or in communities of French speakers outside of Quebec. Further, it will also facilitate greater availability of childcare, education, and healthcare services in French throughout the country. Also, allowing more Canadians to live and work outside Quebec.

IRCC’s Commitment to French-Speaking Immigration

Communities with minority francophones are seeing a reduction in their population size. According to the most recent census, from 3.6% in 2016 to 3.3% in 2021, there were fewer overall Francophones living outside of Quebec.

In light of this awareness, IRCC has a long-standing commitment to Francophone immigration outside of Quebec. The Francophone Immigration Strategy was introduced by IRCC in 2019 to support efforts along the immigration process, from recruitment and marketing of IRCC missions abroad to selection and integration in Canada.

The following are some of the major initiatives under the Francophone Immigration Strategy:

• Added points under Express Entry for candidates who speak French and are bilingual;
• Temporary dedicated streams for candidates who speak French and are bilingual as part of the temporary residence to permanent residence for essential workers and recent international graduates already in Canada;

An increase in financing has allowed for the hiring of nearly 80 francophone service providers to assist French-speaking immigrants outside of Quebec with their settlement.