Ottawa extends successful program to recruit French-speaking international students

The federal government is extending a successful pilot project that helps francophone universities outside of Quebec to recruit international students.  

The decision to extend the Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot (FMCSP) until August 2027 was met with enthusiasm by the Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne (ACUFC), which represents francophone and bilingual post-secondary institutions outside of Quebec. 

In 2024, ACUFC filed a complaint with the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages to contest the federal government’s decision to limit the number of study permits issued to international students. The pilot project counterbalances the study permit cap, by allocating permits specifically to French-speaking institutions in provinces where francophones are in the minority. 

Recent data provides a picture of the program’s impact. 

“The approval rate speaks for itself,” said Martin Normand, President of ACUFC. “Almost 70 per cent of study permit applications received through the program were approved — well above the Canadian average. These results show that the program can have a direct impact on a key issue we had identified.” 

According to IRCC data, the program’s approval rate in December 2025 was 65 per cent —significantly higher than the 2023 approval rates of 34 per cent for students from Africa and the Middle East and 39 per cent for students from the Americas. 

The pilot project was limited to 2,300 applications in its first year. IRCC received 780 applications, of which 71 per cent were approved. The limit was raised to 2,970 applications in the program’s second year. 

In an email, IRCC confirmed that, as of April 30, 2026, 515 students had arrived in Canada through the pilot program since its 2024 launch. 

READ MORE: Programme pilote pour les personnes étudiantes internationales : un espoir pour les communautés francophones hors Québec (French only) 

Stabilizing international student numbers 

Although most of the program’s designated institutions have been participating since 2024, others joined the program in its second year. Among them is Université de Saint-Boniface (USB) in Manitoba, which is preparing to welcome its first program cohort in September 2026. 

“Even though we only entered the program in December 2025, the response from prospective students was very encouraging,” said Robert Daudet, director of recruitment and student services at USB. “We’ve already filled between 80 and 85 per cent of our quota for the year.” 

“This initiative won’t double our international student numbers, and that’s not our intention either,” Mr. Daudet clarified. “But it does help stabilize the number of students coming from abroad and supporting the university more broadly.” 

A demographic boost for the French language 

Dr. Normand noted that admissions quota across the institutions has increased by about 20 per cent over previous incoming international student numbers. During the program’s second year, the majority of ACUFC’s 22 member institutions used almost their entire quota, even in rural and remote regions. 

When the program was launched in fall 2024, sociologist Jean-Pierre Corbeil hypothesized that participants could bring along family members, amounting to a demographic impact of approximately four people per household.   

Almost two years later, early results seem to confirm that theory. “We didn’t predict how many young families would benefit from the program,” said Dr. Normand. “It’s not just one person coming to Canada — it’s four or five people joining a local community.” He says this phenomenon is partially explained by the project’s eligibility criteria, which attract students who are older than average. As a consequence, more incoming students bring their families. 

“Our institutions are working hard to demonstrate just how much this program benefits host communities and directly supports Canada’s demographic goals for Francophone immigration,” said Dr. Normand. 

An unexpected health crisis 

A resurgence of the Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) —home to many prospective international francophone students — has cast a pall over the 2026 back-to-school season. “In most institutions, many students who should have started their studies in September are from the DRC,” said Dr. Normand. “Public health measures will significantly affect numbers for the program’s second year. Many students from the DRC may not be able to arrive in September as expected.” 

In response to the Ebola outbreak, Canada has temporarily suspended entry for foreign nationals from the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan. The processing of visa applications under FMCSP has also been suspended. IRCC has said that students admitted in the second year of the program who cannot enter Canada due to the border measures can communicate with their university to defer their studies to next year.  

At USB, the outbreak will have only a small impact; Mr. Daudet anticipates that four or five Congolese students may not arrive in time for the start of the semester. Thanks to the pilot program’s high approval rate, however, he says USB still expects to welcome more international students overall than previously anticipated. However, he was unable to provide an exact number, as IRCC is still processing student permit applications.