Immiboards ― French-speaking candidates to qualify for increased bonus points under Canada’s Express Entry system as Canada aims to attract French-speaking immigrants.
Francophone and bilingual french-speaking Express Entry candidates are now eligible for more points toward their immigration application.
Canada is aims to attract more French-speaking immigrants outside Quebec.
Canada’s immigration minister, Marco Mendicino, announced that Francophone and bilingual candidates will receive additional points under the Express Entry system.
Express Entry is an online system which is used to manage applications for permanent residence from skilled workers.
French bonus points changes as of October 20, 2020 – additional French language points for good French skills:
NCLC 7 or higher on all four French language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing):
25 extra points if you scored CLB 4 or lower in English (or you have not had an English test); or
50 extra points if you scored CLB 5 or higher on all four English skills
As a result, this change will see the points increase from 15 to 25 for French-speaking candidates and from 30 to 50 for bilingual candidates.
This is in addition to points for official languages. The CRS scores of all pool profiles will be updated automatically before the next invitation round after the updates.
As per the government press release, this change will help deliver on the government’s commitment to reach the target of 4.4% French-speaking immigrant admissions outside Quebec by 2023.
“Supporting the development of Francophone minority communities outside of Quebec is part of this government’s plan for economic growth and long-term prosperity throughout the country. It is also the right thing to do to help support Francophone communities right across Canada. We will continue to attract Francophone immigrants to make sure that Francophone minority communities flourish.”
– The Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P., Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
Canada aims to admit 4.4 percent of French-speaking immigrants outside of Quebec by 2023.
In 2019, Canada admitted 2.82% French-speaking immigrants outside Quebec. This is an of 1.1% points in the proportion of French speakers invited to apply in 2019 compared to the previous year.
Between 2003 to 2019, Canada more than 60,000 French-speaking immigrants outside Quebec. This number was 8,465 in 2019.
As per the 2016 Census, the French-speaking population represented 21.4% of the total population.
IRCC will invest $40.8 million over 5 years to support the consolidation of a Francophone integration pathway and horizontal policy development.
This bodes well for certain section of candidates especially those over the age of 35 who despite having a Masters degree, work experience, and CLB 9 in English, could not muster enough points to get an invite.
For English speaking immigration candidates, learning French as a second language will help to increase their Canada Express Entry points and since it is one of the official languages of Canada, it will also help in better integration with Canadian society and culture.
