加拿大移民新政大转向？凭什么这个群体成“香饽饽”？

联邦政府正在大幅削减永久和临时移民的接收人数，但其中一个不仅得到豁免，而且被鼓励大幅增长的群体是定居在魁北克省以外的法语移民。

The federal government is slashing the number of permanent and temporary immigrants it's admitting to Canada — but among the streams that are not only being spared but encouraged to grow significantly are francophones settling outside Quebec.

• slashing (v.): 大幅削减。

• permanent and temporary immigrants：永久和临时移民。

• admitting to：接纳，接收。

• streams (n.): 类别，群体。

• spared (v.): 被豁免，被放过。

• francophones (n.): 法语使用者，指讲法语的人。

• settling outside Quebec：定居在魁北克省以外。

总理马克·卡尼（Mark Carney）在上次竞选活动中承诺，到 2029 年，将魁北克省以外的法语移民占所有永久居民的比例提高到 12%。

Prime Minister Mark Carney promised during the last election campaign to raise the francophone immigration target to 12 per cent of all permanent residents admitted outside Quebec by 2029.

这个新目标是在几乎没有大肆宣传的情况下宣布的，它高于前总理贾斯汀·特鲁多（Justin Trudeau）领导下的自由党计划的 10%，并且远高于该国多年来一直保持的不到 2% 的年增长率。

That new target, announced with little fanfare, is higher than the 10 per cent the Liberals were planning under former prime minister Justin Trudeau — and well above the less than two per cent annual rate the country had been pulling in for years.

• announced with little fanfare：在几乎没有大肆宣传的情况下宣布。

• former prime minister：前总理。

• well above：远高于。

• pulling in：拉入，吸引。

事实上，加拿大花了 19 年时间——直到 2022 年——才达到魁北克省以外的永久居民中法语使用者占 4.4% 的目标。政府在 2003 年设定了这一目标，以防止法语的进一步衰落。

In fact, it took 19 years — until 2022 — for Canada to reach its target of 4.4 per cent of permanent residents admitted outside Quebec being French speakers. The government adopted that goal in 2003 to prevent the further decline of the French language.

• it took...for...to...：某人花了多少时间做某事。

• adopted a goal：采纳了一个目标。

代表魁北克省以外法语社区协会的“加拿大法语和阿卡迪亚社区联合会”主席莉安·罗伊表示，法语少数族裔社区必须欢迎更多的法语使用者，否则“我们很多社区可能会消失……尤其是在农村地区”，并且随着人口老龄化，劳动力短缺会恶化。

Liane Roy, president of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, which represents francophone associations outside Quebec, said francophone minority communities must welcome more French speakers, otherwise "a lot of our communities may disappear ... especially in rural areas," and labour shortages will worsen as the population ages.

• francophone minority communities：法语少数族裔社区。

• rural areas：农村地区。

• labour shortages：劳动力短缺。

• worsen (v.): 恶化。

• as the population ages：随着人口老龄化。

罗伊说，在加拿大主权受到美国总统威胁的历史时刻，加拿大的双语主义必须得到捍卫和加强。

At a moment in history when Canada's sovereignty is under threat by the U.S. president, Roy said Canada's bilingualism must be defended and enhanced.

• sovereignty (n.): 主权。

• is under threat：受到威胁。

• bilingualism (n.): 双语主义。

她说：“更大比例的既懂英语又懂法语的移民，意味着在医疗保健和教育等关键领域为民众提供更好的服务。”

"A larger proportion of immigrants who know both English and French means better services to the population in key sectors like health care and education," she said.

根据一项联邦官方语言计划，虽然加拿大人口主要由于移民而稳步增长，但以第一官方语言来衡量的魁北克省以外的法语人口，已从 1971 年的 6.1% 下降到 2021 年的 3.5%。

While Canada's population has steadily increased mainly due to immigration, the size of the francophone population outside Quebec, measured by the first official language spoken, has slipped from 6.1 per cent in 1971 to 3.5 per cent in 2021, according to a federal official languages plan.

罗伊说，由于加拿大在近二十年里反复未能达到其年度法语移民目标，因此需要更大程度的增长来弥补数万名原本可以定居加拿大的移民，如果政府达到了先前的目标。

Since Canada repeatedly missed its annual francophone admissions target for nearly two decades, Roy said greater increases are needed to make up for the tens of thousands who could have settled in Canada if the government had met its previous targets.

• repeatedly (adv.): 反复地。

• missed its annual target：未能达到其年度目标。

• make up for：弥补。

• tens of thousands：数万。

• if...had met...：虚拟语气，表示对过去未发生事情的假设。

虽然渥太华正在增加其欢迎的法语使用者人数，但卡尼政府正在减少永久居民人数，誓言到 2027 年将年度接收人数限制在人口的 1% 以下，并将学生和临时外籍工人的人数限制在加拿大人口的 5% 以下。

While Ottawa is increasing the number of French speakers it welcomes, the Carney government is dialling back the number of permanent residents, vowing to limit annual admissions to less than one per cent of the population, and capping the number of students and temporary foreign workers at less than five per cent of Canada's population by 2027.

• dialling back (v.): 减少，缩减。

• vowing to：誓言要。

• limit annual admissions：限制年度接收人数。

• capping (v.): 设上限。

• temporary foreign workers：临时外籍工人。

这些限制——以及将加拿大移民系统重新聚焦于将经济类移民（包括法语使用者）在接收总数中占更大比例——延续了自由党最近的政策转变，即在 2024 年，随着公众对住房短缺和生活成本上涨的担忧加剧，大幅削减了移民人数。

Those limits — along with a refocusing of Canada's immigration system to make economic immigrants, including French-speakers, a greater share of the admissions — continue a recent policy shift from the Liberals which significantly cut immigration numbers in 2024 as public concerns over the housing shortage and rising cost of living intensified.

• refocusing of：重新聚焦于。

• economic immigrants：经济类移民。

• a greater share of：更大的份额。

• continue a recent policy shift：延续了最近的政策转变。

• significantly cut：大幅削减。

• intensified (v.): 加剧。

新的移民限制似乎正按预期发挥作用：加拿大统计局报告称，今年第一季度人口零增长，这是非永久居民净减少的连续第二个季度。

The new immigration restrictions appear to be working as intended: Statistice Canada reported zero population growth in the first quarter of this year, the second consecutive quarter with a net drop in non-permanent residents.

• working as intended：按预期发挥作用。

• zero population growth：人口零增长。

• consecutive quarter：连续的季度。

• a net drop：净减少。

考虑到移民总人数的下降，加拿大官方语言专员雷蒙德·泰贝奇（Raymond Théberge）表示，需要“在整个法语移民链上，从推广到完全融合和留住，持续努力”来确保在 2029 年前实现更高的目标。

Given the overall decline in immigration numbers, Raymond Théberge, Canada's commissioner of official languages, said "sustained efforts will be required across the entire Francophone immigration continuum, from promotion to full integration and retention," to ensure the higher target is reached by 2029.

• Given (prep.): 考虑到。

• overall decline：总体下降。

• sustained efforts：持续的努力。

• Francophone immigration continuum：法语移民链，指法语移民从申请到最终融入社会的全过程。

• full integration and retention：完全融合和留住。

他的声明还呼吁移民部建立“手段、资源和时间表”，以确保加拿大达到在《现代化官方语言法》中设定的另一个目标，即恢复魁北克省以外法语人口占 6.1% 的人口比重。

His statement also called upon the immigration department to establish "the means, the resources and timeline" to ensure Canada meets the other target, set out in the modernized Official Languages Act, to restore the demographic weight of francophones outside Quebec to 6.1 percent.

• called upon：呼吁。

• set out in：在……中规定。

• demographic weight：人口比重。

罗伊援引最近的趋势，对加拿大将实现这一目标充满信心。2024 年，魁北克省以外的永久居民中，有 7.2% 的人法语流利（30,550 人），超过了联邦政府设定的 6% 的目标。

Citing recent trends, Roy is confident Canada will get there. The federal government exceeded its six per cent target in 2024 when 7.2 percent of permanent resident admissions outside Quebec were fluent in French (30,550 people).

• citing (v.): 援引，引用。

• exceeded its target：超过了其目标。

她希望加拿大最终能达到 20% 的目标。

She wants Canada to eventually reach a 20 per cent target.

渥太华目前正在使用的一项增强法语使用者移民的措施是“法语社区移民试点计划”。

One measure Ottawa is now using to enhance immigration among French speakers is the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot.

新不伦瑞克省北部的阿卡迪亚半岛已经加入了该试点项目，该项目为技术工人提供永久居留权，由塞巴斯蒂安·罗伊在 N.B. 省小帕克维尔共同经营的一家酿酒厂也参与其中。

The Acadian Peninsula in northern New Brunswick has enrolled in the pilot program, which offers permanent residency to skilled workers, and a distillery co-run by Sébastien Roy in Petit-Paquetville, N.B., is taking part.

• enrolled in：加入。

• pilot program：试点项目。

• distillery (n.): 酿酒厂。

• co-run by：由……共同经营。

• taking part：参与其中。

谈到他“费尔斯·杜·罗伊酿酒厂”的客户时，他说：“我们很多客户讲法语，那是他们的第一语言，通常也是他们唯一会讲的语言。”

"A lot of our [customers] speak French, that is their first language and often the only language they speak," he said of Distillerie Fils du Roy's clientele.

罗伊说，移民重振了他的家乡，他说那里正在流失年轻人。他说他最近雇佣了三名从当地大学毕业的讲法语的新移民，并且他正在通过一个每天提供 10 到 20 份申请的试点项目，寻找另外三名员工。

Roy said immigration has reinvigorated his hometown, which he said was losing its young people. He said he recently hired three French-speaking newcomers who graduated from a local college, and he's looking to hire three more through a pilot program that's providing 10 to 20 applications a day.

• reinvigorated (v.): 重振，重新焕发活力。

• newcomers (n.): 新移民。

• looking to hire：正在寻找雇佣。

罗伊说：“通过法语新移民，我们可以继续保持法语特色，我们可以继续经营我们的企业，这也为我们的社区带来了年轻人。”

"By having francophone newcomers we can continue to be francophone, we can continue to operate our businesses, and it brings some young adults in our community," Roy said.

• continue to be francophone：继续保持法语特色。