Quebec's French Language Commissioner, Benoit Dubreuil, is proposing a federal-provincial agreement to direct French-speaking asylum claimants to settle in Quebec.
The goal is to reduce the costs of linguistic integration, suggesting those who speak English should go to other provinces. Quebec Immigration Minister Christine Frechette has not dismissed this recommendation and believes it needs review.
Quebec's government sees non-French-speaking immigration as a potential threat to Quebecois culture and is considering limiting economic immigration to French-speaking immigrants by 2026. According to the commissioner's report, a significant percentage of immigrants in Quebec struggle with the French language, and the proportion of residents unable to speak conversational French has increased from 5.6% in 2016 to 7.2% in 2021.
#Quebec, #asylum_seekers, #refugees, #French-speaking_immigrants
March 6, 2024
Ontario universities are requesting 35% of the capped study permit applications, equating to 82,250 of 235,000 applications from international students.
The Council of Ontario Universities (COU) seeks to distribute these allocations based on each university's proportion of international student enrollment.
The COU aims to welcome 28,000 international students next year, maintaining their representation at around 20% of all students.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller last month set a limit on study permit applications for 2024, which will reduce the number of study permits by over a third.
#International_students, #Ontario, #COU, #study_in_Canada, #study_in_Ontario
March 6, 2024
A recent conference in Yellowknife, organized by the Conseil de développement économique des Territoires du Nord-Ouest (CDÉTNO) and La Communauté francophone accueillante (CFA), focused on creating pathways for Canadian businesses to hire French-speaking workers.
Representatives from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and Employment and Social Development Canada were present to address inquiries regarding the francophone work permit offered by Ottawa. Francois Afane, the executive director of CDETNO, described the employment of francophone workers as a "win-win" solution, emphasizing its potential to fill job vacancies and enhance diversity in Yellowknife and the Northwest Territories (NWT).
The immigration to NWT relies on three streams: the Employer-Driven Stream, the Business Stream, and the Francophone Stream.
The Francophone Stream enables qualified bilingual individuals with a job offer in NWT to apply to the Northwest Territories Nominee Program (NTNP). The NTNP operates through a partnership between the Government of the Northwest Territories and IRCC, with the Department of Industry, Tourism, and Investment handling the Business Stream and the Department of Education, Culture, and Employment overseeing the Employer-Driven Streams.
#NTNP, #NWT, #IRCC, #Francophone_immigrants
March 6, 2024
Statistics Canada's 2022 Longitudinal Immigration Database reveals trends in immigrant retention rates across Canada. Atlantic provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador) saw rising retention rates, while the prairie provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba experienced declines.
Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta displayed the highest five-year retention rates for newcomers who landed in 2016, exceeding 84%, with Ontario leading at 93.1%. Saskatchewan and Manitoba witnessed significant drops in retention rates for those landing between 2012-2016.
New Brunswick reached its highest five-year retention rate in the Atlantic provinces at 56%, and PEI reported an increase, though it still has the lowest retention rate at 30.9%. Newfoundland and Labrador's one-year retention rate rose from 55% in 2016 to 66.4% in 2020. While most newcomers settle in larger provinces due to established immigrant communities, rural regions may struggle to maintain a robust labour force.
#StatCan, #immigration_to_Canada, #canadian_provinces, #study, #Atlantic_Canada
March 6, 2024
