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Manitoba is opening its doors to help prospective immigrants build stronger ties to francophone communities in the province.

The Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) is accepting requests from bilingual francophone candidates interested in conducting a pre-arranged, “exploratory” visit to the province.

These visits allow potential to research employment opportunities and communities in the province in order to make an informed decision on immigrating to Manitoba.

Skilled Worker candidates do not require a connection to Manitoba in order to be considered and all exploratory visits include an MPNP interview that could result in an invitation to apply for a for Canadian permanent residence.

Manitoba has one of Canada’s largest francophone populations outside of Quebec, though the number has declined in recent years. Canada’s 2016 census found 46,000 people in the province who listed French as their mother tongue, a decline of 3.6 per cent from 2011.

The MPNP is organizing the visits in association with the Conseil de développement économique des municipalités bilingues du Manitoba (CDEM), which supports economic development in the province’s bilingual communities.

“As immigration is critical to our economic growth, we are strengthening our partnership with CDEM to support the economic and cultural vitality of our francophone communities and Manitoba as a whole,” Ralph Eichler, Manitoba’s Economic Development and Training Minister, said in a news release.

“Our renewed partnership aligns with Manitoba’s Growing Through Immigration Strategy as it will help increase the size and diversity of the talent pool available to Manitoba industry.”

CDEM’s participation " will help prospective francophone immigrants build stronger ties to francophone communities in Manitoba and local economic opportunities,” the news release says.

The MPNP has updated its to help facilitate the exploratory visit application process and selection criteria.

The Government of Manitoba and CDEM will be participating in a forum in Europe to connect Canadian employers with skilled francophone candidates.

The Destination Canada Mobility Forum is from Nov. 15 to 17 in Paris, France, and will be in Brussels, Belgium on Nov. 18.

The MPNP said it nominated 235 francophone immigrants at Destination Canada in 2018, totalling 4.5 per cent of the year’s nominations.

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