The Association franco-yukonnaise (AFY), in partnership with its national umbrella organization, the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne (FCFA) du Canada, says it is disappointed with immigration targets the federal government has set for 2024 to 2026.
Federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced the immigration levels plans on Nov. 1. Highlighted in the plan was a target of 485,000 permanent residents in 2024 and 500,000 in 2025. Beginning in 2026, the federal government plans to stabilize permanent resident levels at 500,000, “allowing time for successful integration while continuing to augment Canada’s labour market,” the federal government said in a statement.
The immigration targets to support Fracophonie communities outside of Quebec are far from what is needed in the Yukon, AFY said in a statement. Those targets represent six per cent of total immigration in 2024, seven per cent for 2025 and eight per cent in 2026.
“To ensure the future vitality of the Franco-Yukonnie, we must address the challenges created by the workforce shortage through immigration,” said AFY president Lorraine Taillefer. “Unfortunately, today’s announcement falls far short of our needs, despite the recent commitment to modernize the Official Languages Act to restore the demographic significance of the Francophonie.”
The group said the French-speaking community in the territory has invested significant efforts in establishing services to welcome and facilitate the integration of Francophone immigrants.
“By enhancing these services and implementing a specific Francophone immigration program, the government has an opportunity to achieve ambitious goals in Francophone immigration. However, it has chosen to maintain the status quo by relying on the current capabilities of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada,” Taillefer said.
Per the Immigration and Refugees Protection Act (IRPA), the federal government must release its annual immigration plan by Nov. 1 in non-election years.
The Immigration Levels Plan acts as the guideline for the number of new permanent residents who will be admitted into Canada over the next three years under each of the three immigration classes: economic, family and humanitarian.
Canada plans to welcome 485,000 new immigrants in 2024, while 500,000 new immigrants will be admitted in 2025 and 2026, respectively.
Contact Patrick Egwu at patrick.egwu@yukon-news.com
