November 15, 2019: The Manitoba government is working with the Conseil de développement économique des municipalités bilingues du Manitoba (CDEM) in an effort to better attract and integrate francophone newcomers.

The Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program (MPNP) is accepting requests from bilingual francophone candidates for exploratory visits to the province, which will be supported by CDEM to help prospective immigrants establish stronger ties to francophone communities and local economic opportunities.  These pre-arranged visits allow potential skilled-worker applicants to research employment opportunities and communities to help them make an informed decision whether to relocate to Manitoba.

MPNP has updated its candidate screening guidelines to streamline the exploratory visit application process and selection criteria for applicants.  The minister noted this will allow program staff to process applications in a faster, clearer and more efficient way.

The visits grant would-be skilled worker candidates to research employment opportunities and communities in the province to assist them to make an educated decision on immigrating to Manitoba.

Furthermore, they do not need to have a relative/relation who is living in the province to be considered for an exploratory visit and an MPNP interview that could lead to an invitation to apply for a provincial nomination for Canadian permanent residence.

In 2018, MPNP nominated 235 francophone immigrants at Destination Canada, totaling 4.5 per cent of the year’s nominations.

More information on the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program is available at www.onecanadavisa.com.