About the program

The number of French-speaking people is declining in Francophone minority communities (FMCs) outside Quebec. To counter this decline, the Government of Canada, through its Action Plan for Official Languages 2023-2028, aims to

• protect and promote Canada's linguistic duality
• preserve French
• ensure the vitality of FMCs

The Francophone Immigration Support Program (FISP) is one of the measures IRCC is implementing to address the situation. This measure is an integral part of the new Francophone Immigration Policy.

The FISP is a “by and for Francophones” program.

The program aims to

• further apply a Francophone lens to the immigration processes by increasing the involvement of Francophone stakeholders in the selection and admission of French-speaking candidates outside of Quebec
• meet the French-speaking and bilingual labour needs in the various sectors of the Canadian economy

The FISP will fund innovative projects falling under one of the streams below.

Stream 1: Collaborative selection projects

This stream supports projects that aim to increase the number of French-speaking candidates.

Stream 2: Promotion of Francophone minority communities (FMCs) abroad

This stream aims to promote FMCs abroad. The objective of these projects will be to attract French-speaking candidates to immigrate to Canada outside of Quebec.

Stream 3: Case studies, innovation and applied research

This stream makes it possible to obtain and share evidence-based data relating to systemic barriers with respect to the increase of French-speaking candidates within immigration programs outside of Quebec. This information will be used to identify promising practices and the piloting of innovative projects.