ACUFC’s Complaint to the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages: Concrete Positive Measures Expected from IRCC
27 octobre 2025
Ottawa, Monday, October 27, 2025 – The Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne (ACUFC) welcomes the final investigation report from the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (OCOL), issued following the complaint it filed against Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in response to the announcement of a national cap on study permit applications.
As a reminder, IRCC announced this cap in January 2024, with the objective of significantly reducing the number of new study permits granted to international students wishing to study in Canada. This announcement came just days after the release of the new Policy on Francophone Immigration, which aimed to increase the number of international students enrolled in postsecondary institutions operating in francophone minority settings. The ACUFC filed its complaint with OCOL in April 2024, after several discussions with IRCC to mitigate the impact of the cap on its member institutions.
In its complaint, the ACUFC alleged that IRCC had failed to take appropriate measures to prevent or lessen the negative impacts of the cap and, in doing so, had not fulfilled its obligations under Part VII of the Official Languages Act. OCOL determined that the complaint was founded and issued guidance on what constitutes meaningful consultations in compliance with the Act. OCOL recommends that IRCC, within the next 12 months, develop concrete positive measures based on the results of Part VII-compliant dialogue and consultation activities related to the cap.
“In handling this complex complaint, OCOL is breaking new ground by proposing clear parameters for what constitutes effective consultations under the Official Languages Act and how they should be used to assess the impacts of major policy decisions,” said Martin Normand, CEO of the ACUFC. “We wish to meet soon with the office of Minister Lena Metlege Diab and the appropriate senior leadership of IRCC to plan for the prompt implementation of OCOL’s recommendations.”
Through the Official Languages Act, the federal government aims to strengthen Canada’s linguistic framework, promote substantive equality between the two official languages, and protect and promote French given its minority status in the country. The outcome of this complaint sends a clear signal that the new tools provided by the Act can lead to distinct and transformative measures, when properly developed, across the federal system in support of Francophone minority communities. This OCOL report marks an important milestone in the ongoing evolution of the interpretation of the modernized Official Languages Act.
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About the Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne
The Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne (ACUFC) brings together postsecondary institutions operating in Francophone minority contexts. Its goal is to increase access to postsecondary education in French and to help establish a true continuum of French-language education across Canada. The ACUFC also supports the initiatives of the Consortium national de formation en santé (CNFS), the Réseau national de formation en justice (RNFJ), and the Réseau de la recherche sur la francophonie canadienne (RRF).
For more information:
Rose Doresca, Project manager – strategic communications
Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne
819 271-8284
rdoresca@acufc.ca
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