Francophone immigration conference

New Brunswick is hosting a two-day federal-provincial meeting starting today in Moncton to discuss Francophone immigration.

Ministers responsible for the Canadian francophonie and immigration are meeting six months after the provinces and territories decided to ask Ottawa to boost the level of francophone immigration outside Quebec to 5% from 1.3% in 2015. New Brunswick has set a goal of 33% francophone immigrants by 2020.

Labour Minister Donald Arseneault, who is responsible for immigration, calls Francophone immigration a tool for economic development that has a positive impact on the two linguistic communities.