At a glance
If you speak French and plan to settle in one of six participating communities outside Quebec, the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot (FCIP) may offer a route to permanent residence. You first need an eligible job offer from an employer approved by that community.
- Job offer required?
- Yes, from a designated employer in a participating community
- French
- At least level 5 on Canada’s French-language benchmark in all four skills
- Other requirements
- The required work experience, education, and settlement funds
Summary
Canada’s Francophone Community Immigration Pilot is a permanent-residence route for French-speaking applicants who want to work and settle in a selected Francophone-minority community. It requires a valid job offer from a designated employer, related work experience, education, language testing, settlement funds, and community support.
The community must then recommend you before you can apply to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The participating communities are places where French speakers are a minority; each has its own local priorities.
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Find an eligible offer from an approved employer Check the community's rules, French level, work experience, education, and settlement requirements.
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The employer requests a recommendation The community reviews the job offer and your eligibility.
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Apply for permanent residence If recommended Send your application to Canada's immigration department after the community recommends you.
French ability alone is not enough. Any optional work permit needs a separate application.
Eligibility
An applicant normally needs:
- A full-time, non-seasonal, permanent job offer located in the participating community and made by a designated employer. The community also checks whether the job is in one of its priority sectors or occupations.
- At least one year, or 1,560 hours, of related paid work experience in the three years before applying. Self-employment and unpaid work do not count. The job's category, known as its TEER level, must fit the work experience under IRCC's table. TEER groups occupations by training, education, experience, and responsibilities.
- An approved French test at level 5 on Canada's French language scale (NCLC) or higher in speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
- A Canadian educational credential or a foreign qualification with an Educational Credential Assessment showing how it compares with Canadian education.
- Settlement funds under IRCC's current table, unless an exemption applies.
- A recommendation certificate from the community and compliance with Canada's immigration entry requirements.
Certain recent graduates of a public post-secondary institution in the participating community are exempt from the work-experience requirement. The exemption has detailed rules about credential length, full-time study, graduation within the previous 18 months, and time physically present in the community.
What This Route Allows
Federal approval gives the applicant and included eligible family members Canadian permanent residence. The applicant is expected to settle in the community that recommended them.
After filing the permanent-residence application, an eligible applicant may seek an optional two-year employer-specific work permit. The permit is tied to the designated employer. A spouse or common-law partner may be eligible for an open work permit limited to the same community.
What This Route Is Not
FCIP is not Quebec immigration, a general route for anyone who speaks French, or an open job-search permit. French at NCLC 5 is necessary but not sufficient: the applicant still needs the designated-employer offer, community recommendation, education, work experience or graduate exemption, and immigration entry checks.
A community recommendation does not guarantee federal approval. IRCC still reviews whether the application is complete and whether the applicant and family are admissible.
Next Steps
- Confirm that living long-term in one of the six participating communities is realistic.
- Take an approved French test and confirm NCLC 5 in all four abilities.
- Use the community's own site to identify designated employers and eligible jobs; verify offers independently and never pay for a job offer.
- Match the offered job and prior work to IRCC's occupation and TEER table, or check the community-graduate exemption.
- Obtain an Educational Credential Assessment if the credential is foreign and prepare current settlement-fund proof.
- Have the employer submit the recommendation request to the community.
- Apply to IRCC for permanent residence after receiving the recommendation; assess the optional work permit separately.
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