IRCC has announced a new immigration pilot to welcome more international students into Francophone communities across Canada.

The Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot (FMCSP) scheme, which opens on August 26th, 2024, is part of a scheme to redouble efforts to welcome French-speaking newcomers and boost Francophone immigration, the government said.

French-speaking students from 33 countries are eligible for the scheme, including Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Lebanon, Mali, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said that visa approval rates for French-speaking international students in Africa, the Middle East and the Americas have been low in the past and that the new pilot scheme will make access to the International Student Program “fairer for a wide range of international students”.

Through the pilot scheme, French-speaking students and their families will be exempted from having to demonstrate that they will leave Canada at the end of their temporary stay.

Additionally, the financial evidence required for student visas will be adjusted to reflect 75 per cent of the low-income cut-off associated with the municipality where the institution’s main campus is located.

FMCSP participants will benefit from a direct pathway from temporary to permanent status after graduation and will have access to settlement services while they are studying to help them integrate successfully into their communities.

IRCC also confirmed that FMCSP will not be included in the study permit cap and that each participating DLI will be allocated an additional limited number of acceptance letters that can be used for study permits in the scheme.