The new action plan released includes over $1.4 billion in five years in addition to the $2.7 billion of the previous year’s plan of action. Thus, this adds up to over $4.1 billion over the course of five years. This is the largest amount ever offered by the government to support official languages in Canada.
The action plan has the following four prominent priorities. They are:
- Promoting lifelong learning opportunities for two official languages.
- Supporting the vitality of official-language minority communities.
- Restoring the French-speaking population faster through immigration.
- Building on optimistic government action to help communities.
How Will This Action Plan Support Francophone Immigration?
Building a French-speaking community in Canada, especially in regions outside of Quebec, depends critically on the influx of francophone immigrants. More than $13.4 million will be spent over five years on the action plan’s new policy and operational frameworks to encourage more immigration from Francophone countries. This will be done under the Francophone Immigration Strategy launched in 2019.
The government further asserts that the new operational framework will also help boost immigration & facilitate settlement and integration of French-speaking or bilingual immigrants of minority communities.
An additional $18.5 million will be spent over the course of five years to advertise and expand recruitment efforts across North America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the United States.
Moreover, almost $50 million over five years will go on to consolidate the Francophone integration path. The goal of this pathway is to increase the ability of Francophone communities to welcome newcomers by easing the settlement and integration process.
The action plan will be achieved through existing initiatives, like welcoming Francophone communities and creating strategies to support French-speaking women immigrants better.
With an emphasis on early learning, $16.3 million will be invested in five years to support, thanks to the targeted, interconnected initiatives in order to boost international recruitment of primary and secondary-level French teachers. These teachers will then settle in the Francophone community in Canada.
At long last, the government has pledged $3.5 million to enhance immigration programs for the Francophone and the multilingual.
The Francophone Immigration In Canada
The Canadian government promotes and protects the status of both official languages, i.e., English & French. However, according to the Official Languages Act, there are just three objectives:
- Supporting the development of English and French minority communities, advancing the equality of status, and using these two languages within Canadian society.
- Setting out the powers, functions, & duties of federal institutions concerning official languages in Canada.
- Ensuring respect for French and English as Canada’s official languages, thus ensuring equal rights and privileges in all federal institutions.
IRCC will take responsibility for attracting and retaining French immigrants to build and support French-speaking communities outside Quebec.
This year, in January, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced that more than 16,300 new immigrants have settled in Francophone minority communities across Canada.
The first census was taken in 2006, and only 2,800 French citizens were admitted that year. However, there was a significant jump in this admission in 2022, i.e., from 1.38% to 4.4%.
Still, the share of French speakers in Canada is reducing. For example, IRCC reported that the proportion of candidates speaking French dropped from 22.2% to 21.4% in 2021.