The Canadian government has announced a new centre in New Brunswick dedicated to the immigration and settlement of francophones will be opening early next year.

The Centre for Innovation on Francophone Immigration and Economic Prosperity will aim to grow and retain New Brunswick’s francophone population through immigration.

The federal government will allocate nearly $13 million over the next four years to create the centre. The government will spend another $6 million per year to maintain the centre’s operations. The Canadian government plans to open the centre by 2022.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc, the MP for Beausejour, has said the centre will provide “quality settlement services by and for francophones,”

New Brunswick Immigration Programs for French-Speakers

New Brunswick currently offers an nominee stream to help facilitate the growth of francophone immigration. The Strategic Initiative stream provides a pathway to permanent residency for French-Speaking workers with a qualifying connection to the province.

Applicants must have either completed an exploratory visit, or hold a valid job offer with a N.B. employer. Alternatively, some applicants may also receive an invitation directly from the province.

Interested candidates must also have a minimum of CLB 5 in each area of the French language exam.

TR to PR Pathway for French-Speakers

French-speakers in New Brunswick are also urged to take advantage of Canada’s TR to PR Pathway. The pathway was Introduced as a public policy in May 2021 and facilitates permanent residency for certain individuals in Canada. Eligible applicants must have either recently graduated from a qualifying Canadian institution or are working in an essential or health occupation.

The combined limit of applications accepted for the general streams is 90,000. However, there is no intake cap for the parallel French-speaking streams.

In an address last month, the Canadian Immigration Minister and President of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne, encouraged eligible French-speakers to apply through this temporary program.

In 2019, French-speaking immigrant admission represented 2.8% of all immigrants admitted outside of Quebec. Immigration, Refugees, Citizenship Canada (IRCC) intends to increase the number of French-speaking immigrants to 4.4% by 202To that end, the government continues to implement various initiatives to help meet this goal.