The Minister of Immigration, Francization, and Integration in the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government, Christine Fréchette, said that the province of Quebec wants future immigrants it selects to be 100% Francophone or Francotropic.

A Francophone is a person who speaks French, while a "Francotropic" (francotrope), according to the accepted definition, is someone whose mother tongue is not French but who comes from a culture or area connected to French and is therefore more inclined than others to choose French as a second language.

Accordingly, the native language of Francotropics might be Arabic, Amazigh, Vietnamese, Lao, Creole, Catalan, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, or Swahili, for example.

Minister Fréchette’s statement on Wednesday follows comments by her premier, François Legault, that Quebec wants immigrants it selects to be 100% Francophone by 2026.

"We will direct our selection procedures according to knowledge of the French reality, according to the reality that the countries (from which immigrants come) will be Francotropic," Minister Fréchette told reporters.

The Minister of Economy, Innovation, and Energy in the Quebec government, Pierre Fitzgibbon, said on his part that he expects there to be exceptions for some institutions. "It might be good for it to be 100% (of newcomers speaking French). But we must be realistic and balance that with needs," Fitzgibbon told reporters upon entering a government meeting.

As an example, he pointed to the POSCO steel plant that will be established in the Quebec city of Bécancour and will need experts from South Korea.