According to Canada’s recently unveiled Immigration Levels Plan for 2024-2026, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) aims to embrace 31,500 French-speaking permanent residents (PRs) in 2025, followed by an increased target of 36,000 newcomers under the same category in 2026.
Immigration Levels Plan Overview Published annually by Canada’s immigration department, the Immigration Levels Plan serves as a blueprint determining the number of new PRs to be admitted into the country for each of the upcoming three years. It categorizes PR targets based on Canada’s three primary immigration classes: economic, family, and refugee/humanitarian.
Consistent Overall Admissions Target The current year’s plan anticipates Canada maintaining a consistent number of new permanent residents in both 2025 and 2026, with an unaltered overall admissions target of 500,000 new PRs for both years.
Increase in Admissions Targets Upon closer examination, it becomes evident that one specific immigration category is projected to experience an increase in admissions over the final two years outlined in this year’s plan.
Increased Admissions in 2026 In 2026, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has outlined a growth in the admissions target for the category of “overall French-speaking Permanent Resident Admissions outside Quebec,” marking an increase of 4,500 compared to the 2025 target.
Motivation Behind the Increase The rationale behind the augmented admissions target for overall French-speaking PRs can be traced to Canada’s recent strategic report titled “An Immigration System for Canada’s Future.” This report outlines IRCC’s commitment to enhancing the vitality of Francophone minority communities outside Quebec.
IRCC’s Strategies and Commitments IRCC has outlined a set of actions to achieve this objective, including the development of a new Francophone Immigration Policy, enhanced promotion and selection efforts, support for settlement and integration, and the establishment of ambitious yet attainable targets.
Recent Achievements In November of this year, Immigration Minister Marc Miller emphasized Canada’s commitment to Francophone immigration during National Francophone Immigration Week. Additionally, Canada unveiled its Action Plan for Official Languages 2023-2028, committing significant funds to promote and build recruitment support for Francophone immigration.
Funding and Initiatives As part of this comprehensive plan, IRCC has committed $18.5 million to promote Francophone immigration domestically and internationally. Initiatives include strengthening the Francophone integration pathway, improving Express Entry benefits for French-speaking immigrants, and implementing category-based draws exclusively for candidates proficient in the French language.
Success and Future Goals These efforts have allowed Canada’s immigration department to effectively boost immigration to Francophone minority communities across the country, excluding Quebec, achieving their targeted Francophone immigration goal in 2022 with over 16,300 new immigrants welcomed into such communities.
