Quebec will make “adjustments” to reduce francization delays

Photo: Jacques Boissinot The Canadian Press According to Quebec Minister of Immigration, Christine Fréchette, Francisation Québec is a victim of its success.

The government of François Legault will soon make “adjustments” to reduce processing times at Francisation Québec, barely seven months after the launch of the organization.

Victim of its “success”, according to the Minister of Immigration, Christine Fréchette, Francisation Québec has only processed 40% of immigrants’ francisation files since its launch in June 2023, reported the week last Le Devoir. The ministry itself agrees that it now takes up to 75 days to process a request, which is 25 days longer than the service standard.

“We have had immense success with the establishment of Francisation in terms of popularity, there are a lot of people who are signing up, but we must understand that we are in a context of transition. It’s really the equivalent of a French university that we are setting up,” explained the CAQ minister in the chamber on Wednesday.

She was then questioned by Liberal MP André A. Morin, who deplored the “fiasco” in the Frenchization of immigrants. “An immigrant is offered online courses even though he clearly stated that he did not have a computer. A young immigrant enrolls in adult education when he should be taking French courses in his secondary school. Can the minister put her ministry in order ?” he proclaimed.

Ms. Fréchette assures that she will make “adjustments” to the operation of Francisation Québec “over the coming weeks”. “We are going to develop a new approach which will require less interaction between the ministry and our partners. We must [remember] that we have more than 140 partners who are engaged in this movement to implement the francization process,” indicated the minister.

“We are going to test a new approach, on a small scale. And if it gives the expected results, we can expand it on a larger scale,” she continued.

Requested by Le Devoir, Minister Fréchette's office did not want to give further details on these modifications. “We will not come out on this today,” wrote press officer Maude Méthot-Faniel.

Created last year as part of the adoption of “Law 96”, the Francisation Québec organization is the crossroads for francization services for immigrants. Last week, Ms. Fréchette also justified the slowness of her service delivery by citing “professor recruitment issues”.