14 communities across Canada under the Welcoming Francophone Communities initiative will receive funding to create programs and activities designed towards assisting French-speaking newcomers, with Labrador City- Wabush being one of them.
“The selection of the Labrador City-Wabush will make for a more diverse, stronger Francophone community supporting our workforce and community needs. This funding of more than $645,000 will help welcome more Francophones to make Labrador City-Wabush their forever home.”
– Yvonne Jones, MP, Labrador
In Budget 2018, this funding initiative allocating $12.6 million over 3 years was announced. As of December 2018, 4.5% of Express Entry invitations to apply were issued to French-speaking candidates, compared to 2.9% in 2017.
“Francophone communities open up their hearts to welcome French-speaking newcomers to Canada. Labrador City-Wabush will be able to be even more inviting to Francophone immigrants so they can feel welcome and where they will have more opportunities to make Canada their home. Through the launch of the Francophone Immigration Strategy, we are committed to increasing the proportion of French-speaking immigrants in Francophone minority communities.”
– The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
On March 13, 2019,the new Meeting Our Objectives: Francophone Immigration Strategy was announced .It is a collaborative approach with federal, provincial, territorial and community partners and described as “by and for Francophones”. It seeks to enhance the vitality of official-language minority communities, specifically through immigration, by increasing the proportion of French-speaking permanent residents outside of Quebec, supporting the integration and retention of French-speaking newcomers, and building the capacity of Francophone communities.
“We are delighted that this project will help support the integration and retention of Francophone newcomers. Labrador City has been a land of immigration for a long time, but this project will make a difference locally to improve reception, integration and retention, to the great benefit of the development of our local Francophone community.”
– Sophie Thibodeau, President of the Fédération des francophones de Terre-Neuve et du Labrador