Francophone Mobility: work in Canada with a work permit from Cameroon

Permanent residence through Express Entry is not the only door into Canada. For a French speaker from Cameroon who has found an employer, Francophone Mobility makes it possible to obtain a work permit without the employer having to prove that no Canadian could fill the position. Here is how the program works, what it requires, and why it often leads to permanent residence.

What is Francophone Mobility?

It is an exemption from the Labour Market Impact Assessment, reserved for French-speaking workers who will settle outside Quebec. Normally, a Canadian employer recruiting abroad must prove to the government that no one was found in Canada: a long and costly procedure. With Francophone Mobility, that step disappears. The employer only has to submit the job offer in the Employer Portal and pay the compliance fee.

The conditions for the candidate

Being a French speaker: you must have at least CLB 5 in both listening and speaking. You prove it with your TEF or TCF results (the TCF Canada, for example) in those two abilities, with a written confirmation from a college or university for a program in French, or with other documents that show education in French. To see whether your marks reach that level, the conversion is here: /en/check-list.html#tcf Having a job offer from an employer located outside Quebec, in any TEER category of the National Occupational Classification, except for a primary agriculture job in TEER 4 or 5. Meeting the ordinary conditions for a work permit: passport, no inadmissibility, and a medical exam, which is mandatory if you come from Cameroon for more than six months, or, whatever the length of stay, for certain jobs (for example in health care, schools or child care).

The employer's role

The employer is the one who starts the process: they create the offer in IRCC's Employer Portal, pay the compliance fee, and send you the offer number. You then file your work permit application from Cameroon, with that number and your French test results. Without an employer, there is no Francophone Mobility: the program does not replace the job search, it rewards it.

Your spouse and children

Since January 21, 2025, your spouse can only get an open work permit if your job is in TEER 0 or 1, or in certain TEER 2 or 3 occupations, and if your work permit is still valid for at least 16 months after their application is received. Your children can apply for a study permit. If your family is coming with you, check these conditions before accepting the job.

The path to permanent residence

One year of skilled work experience in Canada (TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3) in the last three years opens up the Canadian Experience Class under Express Entry, and French at CLB 7 in all four abilities makes you eligible for the French-language draws, which have some of the lowest cut-offs. Many of our candidates who did not have the score to be invited from Cameroon obtain it after twelve months in Canada. Your score as it stands today takes a few minutes to work out: /en/admissibilite.html

The pitfalls

Paying for a job offer: a genuine offer is never paid for, and a purchased offer is fraud that will follow you. A French test that is too old. A position in Quebec, which the program does not cover. And an employer who promises without submitting the offer in the portal: ask for the number.

Have your profile and your options assessed — Express Entry, Francophone Mobility, or both: /evaluation.html — and prepare for the required French level: /prepa-tcf.html (the Prépa TCF topics come up again at the exam: work through all of them)