Why are Indian international students in Canada rushing to learn French?

Why are Indian international students in Canada rushing to learn French?
Chandigarh: The pathway to Canadian permanent residency has become more difficult in recent years, despite the country admitting a historic high of 500,000 permanent residents annually. However, the widening pool of applicants hasn’t kept pace with demand. Canada issues student visas in greater numbers, with many international students aspiring to stay permanently. This demand-supply gap has raised the qualifying score for permanent residency, leaving many applicants ineligible. But, as the saying goes, if the Mountain will not come to Muhammed, then Muhammed will go to the Mountain.

Students are adapting by learning French to leverage the government’s push for Francophone immigration. However, achieving the required fluency in French is challenging and costly, especially for students already grappling with English proficiency. Nevertheless, many are enrolling in Alliance Français courses despite the expense, which typically takes 45 weeks and up to $7400 to reach desired fluency levels. Some seek cheaper alternatives, leading to a surge in private tutoring, and YouTube, and Facebook channels offering to learn French “avec Baljeet” and variations thereof.

Canada is aiming to reduce its temporary population, including international students, Immigration Minister Marc Miller recently announced. Miller stressed the need for “sustainable” growth in temporary residents. Presently, Canada hosts 2.5 million temporary residents, constituting 6.2% of the population, a figure the government aims to decrease to 5% over the next three years.

Meanwhile, employment Minister Randy Boissonnault highlighted changes to the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), reducing its validity from 12 to six months. The LMIA permits businesses to hire foreign workers for roles lacking Canadian expertise but has been subject to misuse and trade.
“The purpose of the LMIA is for the employer to show a need for a foreign worker and to confirm that no Canadian worker, permanent resident, refugee or asylum seeker is able to do that job. And by shortening the validity period, we are going to make sure that the temporary foreign worker program is being used with the most up-to-date and accurate labor market information,” Boissonnoult said.

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