Canada steps up efforts to welcome French-speaking international students

Canada is redoubling its efforts to welcome French-speaking newcomers to enrich the linguistic, social, cultural and economic fabric of Francophone minority communities (FMCs). Last week, immigration minister Marc Miller 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).

The new pilot program plans to make access to Canada’s International Student Program fairer for a wide range of international students in Africa, the Middle East and the Americas, regions where that the study permit approval rate has been low in the past.

The pilot program, a flagship measure of the Policy on Francophone Immigration, 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 per cent of the low-income cut-off associated with the municipality where the institution’s main campus is located.