Feds Cut French Employment Program

Coopérative d’intégration francophone expresses disappointment Francophone Significant Benefit program axed

SUMMERSIDE — A program that helps businesses in minority francophone communities hire French-speaking workers is coming to an end.

The federal government is suspending the Francophone Significant Benefit program as of Sept. 30.

“This is unquestionably a big setback for francophone immigration,” said Gilles Benoit, president of the Coopérative d’intégration francophone de l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard

“We relied heavily on the Francophone Significant Benefit program to promote the recruitment of qualified bilingual workers among employers in the province. It is the only tool francophones had to get tangible results in francophone immigration to Prince Edward Island.”

The CIF is funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada and Benoit says the minister responsible for that department was only recently quoted as saying he wanted to do more to increase immigration of francophones.

On Sept. 9, Citizen and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said his department was looking to triple the number of francophone immigrants in the provinces and territories outside of Quebec.

Benoit said his organization will be taking part in a meeting Oct. 3 of the Réseau en intégration francophone de l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard (RIF), a group of organizations and institutions committed to providing concrete support to the Acadian and francophone population of Prince Edward Island in its efforts to increase its population.

A meeting with funding partners will soon be scheduled to discuss possible solutions to address the loss of the federal program.

Source: The Guardian