French-Speaking Express Entry Candidates Can Now Get Additional CRS Points
French-speaking Express Entry candidates or Francophones are now eligible for more points toward their immigration application.
Canada's immigration minister, Marco Mendicino, announces that bilingual and French-speaking candidates will get more points under the Express Entry system.
French-speaking candidates will now receive twenty-four (25) extra points for their language skills, up from 15. Bilingual candidates will now get fifty (50) points, compared to thirty (30) from before.
The federal government aims to admit about 4.4 percent of French-speaking immigrants outside of Quebec by 2023.
This new initiative was aimed at helping Canada reach this target once COVID-19 travel restrictions eventually ease, according to a government media release.
In 2019, the percentage of French-speaking candidates admitted to Canada outside Quebec province was 2.82 percent.
"Supporting the development of Francophone minority areas outside of Quebec is part of government's initiatives for economic growth and long-term prosperity throughout the country," read a quote attributed to Marco Mendicino, "It is also a laudable thing to help support Francophone areas or juridictions right across Canada. We will continue to attract Francophone immigrants to ensure that Francophone minority areas flourish."
Over 60,000 French-speaking immigrants moved to Canada between 2003 and 2019. In 2019 alone, over 8,645 new French-speakers were invited.
IRCC is also investing $40.8 million over five years to support the consolidation of Francophone integration pathways and horizontal policy development.
About the Express Entry system
Express Entry is an application management tool that the federal government uses to select candidates for permanent residence.
Basically, there are three federal immigration programs: the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Federal Skilled Trades Program, and the Canadian Experience Class.
Eligible candidates are awarded a score based on the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). Points are given for human capital factors such as age, education, work experience, and language ability in English or French.
The highest-scoring Express Entry candidates are given Invitations to Apply (ITAs) via regular Express Entry draws.
Once a candidate receives an invitation, they can then apply for Canadian permanent residence.
Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) normally hold Express Entry draws every two weeks.
Recently, IRCC has been conducting bigger draws than ever before. The draw held on October 14, sent out 4,500 invitations to Express Entry candidates. As of this date, there have been 82,850 ITAs sent out this year.
The number of French-speakers invited to apply for Canadian immigration reached 5.6% in 2019, up from 4.5% in 2018.
Quebec province has its own immigration system that targets French-speaking immigrants.
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