Permanent Residence Pathway For French-Speaking Students & Their Families Coming To Canada

French-speaking students who receive a study permit through this program will be able to bring certain family members with them to Canada. They will also benefit from adjusted eligibility criteria designed to overcome issues faced by applicants from French-speaking regions with low approval rates.

Key Takeaways

• A pilot program for French-speaking students who want to settle in Francophone minority communities is scheduled to launch on August 26, 2024. 
• The pilot program will give French-speaking students a direct pathway to permanent residence after they complete their studies. 
• Measures to address issues that lead to low approval rates for French-speaking students are included in the pilot. 
• 10 new communities have been added to the Welcoming Francophone Communities Initiative. 

Canada’s New Permanent Residence Program For French-Speaking Students

The new pilot program for French-speaking students will provide a direct pathway to permanent residence for students who complete their studies in Canada. This measure is in response to Canada’s goal of attracting and retaining French-speaking permanent residents outside Quebec. 

The measures to aid French-speaking students secure a study permit for these French-speaking minority communities include: 

• Removing the requirement for students and their families to demonstrate that they plan to leave Canada at the end of their temporary permit. 
• Reduced financial thresholds, which will be adjusted to 75% of the low-income cut-off for the region in which the student plans to study. 
• Access to settlement services. 
• Students will not need a provincial or territorial attestation letter. 

Additionally, students who come to Canada via this pilot program will be excluded from the international student cap which came into effect earlier this year. However, the pilot program has a cap of 2,300 applications for its first year.

Students who receive a study permit under this program will also be able to bring their spouse or common-law partner and any dependent children. 

This means that the French-Speaking Student pilot will operate differently to the study permit program, which does not allow students to bring their family unless they are studying a Masters or PhD program or certain other professional programs. 

Who Can Apply For The French-Speaking Student Pilot Program?

This program is only available to certain French-speaking students. The eligibility criteria include citizenship, study program requirements, and meeting the funds thresholds. 

Eligible Countries 

Not all French-speaking students are eligible. You must be a citizen of one of the following countries to apply for the pilot program: 

• Benin
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cabo Verde
• Cameroon
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Comoros
• Côte d’Ivoire
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Dominica
• Republic of the Congo
• Djibouti
• Egypt
• Equatorial Guinea
• Gabon
• Guinea
• Guinea-Bissau
• Haiti
• Lebanon
• Madagascar
• Mali
• Mauritania
• Mauritius
• Morocco
• Niger
• Rwanda
• Saint Lucia
• São Tomé and Principe
• Senegal
• Seychelles
• Togo
• Tunisia.

Eligible Study Programs

Not all programs of study will be eligible for this pilot. However, the study requirements are less restrictive than the programs that are exempted under the international student cap – which is good news for French speaking students. 

To be eligible for this pilot program, the study program must: 

• be at the post-secondary level
• be full-time
• be 2 years or more of study
• lead to a degree or diploma
• have French as the primary language of instruction (over 50% of the classes are taught in French).

It will also have to be at a participating Designated Learning Institution (DLI). The list of participating institutions is currently being finalized. 

Reduced Funds Requirements

The funds threshold requirements are also adapted under this pilot program. So students studying in smaller towns will have a reduced funds requirement. 

Here’s how it works: 

• Population of 500,000+: CAN$20,635
• Population of 100,000 to 499,999: CAN$17,772
• Population of 30,000 to 99,999: CAN$17,662
• Population under 30,000: CAN$16,161
• Rural areas: CAN$14,206

If students bring their family members, they will need to prove additional funds: 

• Population of 500,000+: CAN$5,559 per additional family member
• Population of 100,000 to 499,999: CAN$4,788 per additional family member
• Population of 30,000 to 99,999: CAN$4,759 per additional family member
• Population under 30,000: CAN$4,354 per additional family member
• Rural areas: CAN$3,827 per additional family member

Permanent Residence As A French-Speaking Student

Eligible French-speaking students who graduate from their DLI with a diploma or degree may be eligible for permanent residence, along with your family. 

You will need to: 

• Reside in Canada, outside Quebec. 
• Have valid status when you apply. 
• Have received your degree or diploma through this pilot program. 
• Not otherwise be inadmissible to Canada. 

There may be additional requirements added when the details of this program are finalized. 

Where Can You Study in Canada? 

It’s likely that this pilot will apply to universities and Colleges within or close to the Francophone Minority Communities outside Quebec. 

The list includes the following cities: 

• Évangéline Region, Prince Edward Island
• Clare, Nova Scotia
• Haut-Saint-Jean Region, New Brunswick
• Labrador City–Wabush, Newfoundland and Labrador
• Hawkesbury, Eastern Ontario
• Sudbury, Northern Ontario
• Hamilton, Southwest Central Ontario
• Seine River Region, Manitoba
• Moose Jaw-Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan
• Calgary, Alberta
• Prince George, British Columbia
• Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
• Whitehorse, Yukon
• Iqaluit, Nunavut

Based on today’s announcement, this list will expand to include 10 new communities, namely: 

• Nanaimo, BC
• Red River, MB 
• Cheticamp, NS
• Belle-Baie, NB
• Caraquet, NB
• Restigouche West Region, NB
• Prince Alberta, SK
• Cornwall, ON
• Cochrane District, ON
• London, ON.