Francophone streams or category-based selection?
Lately, students have been coming to me already well versed in immigration and Canada’s policies on French-speaking candidates. They all know that Canada is actively attracting Francophone immigrants and that Express Entry candidates can earn additional points for French at CLB7 or above, depending on their English results:
- 25 extra points if you score CLB 4 or below in English (or if you did not take the English test)
- 50 extra points if you score CLB 5 or above in English
In the summer of 2023, Canada introduced an innovation under Express Entry - Category-based selection. I have already talked about this in detail at the link, but despite the detailed coverage, I noticed that some people still confuse the concepts of Francophone streams and Francophone round for category-based selection. Let's look together at how streams and selections by category differ from each other.
1.In case of Francophone Streams we are talking about special provincial programs known as Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) streams, aimed at French-speaking audiences. For example, many Canadian provinces outside French-speaking Quebec have developed special streams within their PNP to attract French-speaking professionals.
Francophone stream has special requirements for candidates, the key of which is knowledge of the French language. If you are successful in this stream, your chance of receiving an invitation to permanent residence in Canada (ITA) is greatly increased thanks to additional points from the province.
As for the participation process, it all depends on the specific stream. For example, to become a candidate under Ontario’s Express Entry Human Capital Priorities stream (OINP), you must have an active profile in the Express Entry system and await selection from the province itself. While for participation in New Brunswick Strategic Initiative stream, the application was submitted directly through the special online platform of the province New Brunswick.
Detailed information on each stream is available on the official websites of the provinces.
2.Within Francophone Category-based Selection Express Entry refers to an initiative of the federal government of Canada, not individual provinces. This initiative aims to stimulate French-speaking immigration outside the province of Quebec and is part of the Express Entry system. The initiative is not just a separate “stream” or “program”, but a strategic direction designed to increase the number of French-speaking immigrants. I talked in more detail about how it works in the same link.
In short, the French selections, which now occur with a frequency of approximately once a month within the framework of Express entry and allow those candidates who have at least CLB7 in French to quickly receive ITA, these are selections, not streams.
Read other articles:
What grammar should you use in the TCF?