Insights into the Francophone Mobility Program

Strengthening our communities and workforce with French-speaking foreign workers

SARAH GRAY AND SUZANNE RIX, KC IMMIGRATION LAWYERS, COX & PALMER

To promote Francophone immigration to communities throughout Canada, in 2016 Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) launched its Francophone Mobility Program (FMP). This program provides options to make it easier for employers to hire French-speaking or bilingual workers outside Quebec. Hiring a Frenchspeaking or bilingual candidate could provide a business with a number of advantages, such as the ability to:

• Serve clients in French and English.

• Tap into new markets or new international networks.

• Benefit from support from the Francophone community.

• Increase its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion profile.

• Access an exemption through application for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).

Th is program is highly beneficial to large and small companies as it allows employers to fill gaps in managerial, professional, and skilled positions.

General Criteria for the FMP

The general criteria that IRCC looks for when processing FMP applications are that the foreign worker:

• Speaks fluent French or is fluently bilingual (Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 or higher).

• Is destined to work in a province or territory outside Quebec.

• Is qualified to work in a managerial, professional, technical, or skilled trade position (TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3).

Options to Hire FrenchSpeaking Candidates

There are a variety of options available to employers to find, attract, and recruit French-speaking and bilingual candidates. Those options include:

1. CONTACTING THE CANADIAN VISA OFFICE IN PARIS

If you have a job opening and would like to recruit a temporary or permanent foreign worker from a Francophone country, you can send your job offer to the Canadian visa office in Paris. Include detailed information such as:

• job title

• duties

• expected start and end dates

• salary and benefits

Many countries have public employment services that specialize in international recruitment to help their citizens find work abroad. The staff at the visa office can refer you to the services that will best meet your needs. These local government services can help you find candidates and support you through the recruitment process, free of charge. Through these services, you can recruit candidates from a number of countries, including France, Belgium, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Mauritius, Mexico, and more. These services are available yearround and free of charge to all Canadian employers with job offers outside Quebec.

2. ATTENDING THE DESTINATION CANADA MOBILITY FORUM

The Destination Canada Mobility Forum is an annual event organized by the Government of Canada. This job fair event connects Canadian employers with skilled French-speaking candidates in a variety of fields, such as:

• information technology

• multimedia

• marketing and communications

• finance

• hospitality

• culinary and food industries

• translation

• aeronautics and avionics

• construction

The Destination Canada Mobility Forum typically takes place in November each year. Canadian employers were not direct participants at the November 2022 forum but could communicate their job offers to representatives of their province or territory, city, or region, or to local economic development organizations who were at the forum as exhibitors. Two additional recruitment fairs were planned for 2023: one in January with a focus on IT jobs, and a second in March with a focus on hotel-restaurant-tourism jobs.

3. MAKING A JOB OFFER TO AN EXPRESS ENTRY CANDIDATE

The Express Entry system is used to manage applications to the Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, Canadian Experience Class, and a portion of the Provincial Nominee Programs.

You can make a job offer to an Express Entry candidate, supported by an LMIA, if needed. The candidate is then awarded additional points for their job offer. A job offer increases a candidate’s chances of then being invited to apply for Permanent Residence once the application process begins.

Through Express Entry, IRCC processes the majority of complete applications (those that include all supporting documents) in six to 12 months.

The general entry requirements for employees under the Federal Skilled Worker Program under Express Entry are that applicants have at least one year of work experience related to the job offer, a minimum of CLB 7 in French or English, a Canadian post-secondary education, or a valid Educational Credential Assessment (ECA), and proof of funds to settle in Canada.

If you have any questions about the Francophone Mobility Program, please reach out to the immigration team at Cox & Palmer.

Suzanne Rix, KC, is the Managing Partner of Cox & Palmer’s Halifax office. She was called to the Nova Scotia Bar in 1998. Suzanne assists clients with all types of Work Permit Applications, Permanent Residence Applications and Canadian Citizenship Applications. She provides services in English and German and is the Honorary Consul for the Federal Republic of Germany for the Maritime Provinces. Suzanne can be reached at srix@coxandpalmer.com.

Sarah is an associate lawyer in Cox & Palmer’s Halifax office. She was called to the Nova Scotia Bar in 2022. Sarah assists clients with various work permit, temporary residence, and permanent residence applications. Sarah can be reached at sgray@coxandpalmer.com.