Destination Clic: Quebec's Free French Immersion Program for Young Anglophones
By Muntasir Minhaz • Published Aug 19, 2026 • Canadian Universities & Colleges
Despite its name, Destination Clic is not for anglophones. It is a free federal program for francophone students in grades 8 to 10 who live outside Quebec. If you are an anglophone or allophone Canadian who wants a similar free French immersion trip, apply to Explore instead.
🎓 Destination Clic needs French as your first language, enrollment in a French-language school, and residency outside Quebec
⏱️ The program runs 19 to 21 days on a Canadian university campus in Ontario, Quebec or New Brunswick
💵 Government funding covers tuition, meals and lodging, though you still pay a nonrefundable registration fee and your own travel
📩 Spots go by random computer draw among eligible applicants, not by merit
🎓 Explore is the matching program for English-speaking and allophone Canadians aged 13 and up, with bursaries up to $4,000
What Destination Clic Is
Destination Clic is a federally funded summer program for Canadian students in grades 8, 9 or 10 whose first language is French and who live outside Quebec. The Official Languages Programs (OLP-PLO) deliver it on behalf of Canadian Heritage, alongside a companion program called Explore for non-francophone students.
The name causes confusion. Many families outside Quebec assume it is a French immersion trip for English speakers headed to Quebec. It is the opposite: a program built to keep young francophones living in English-majority provinces connected to French language and culture, hosted at campuses in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, not only in Quebec.
Who Can Apply
You need French as your first language, enrollment in a French-first-language school, and residency outside Quebec at the time you apply. You also need Canadian citizenship or permanent residency. Fluent French speakers enrolled in other school types get a route in too, though the program assesses their French level separately before accepting them.
Because participants are grades 8 to 10 students, most applications get filled out with a parent or guardian involved. The commitment is a full three-week block away from home over the summer, so talk through the dates with your family before you submit anything.
What It Costs and What You Get
Applying is free. If selected, government funding pays your tuition, instructional materials, meals and lodging for the full 19 to 21 day session, per OLP-PLO's program page . You still cover a nonrefundable registration fee, your travel to and from the host campus, and personal spending money.
Students stay on campus in student residences for the length of the program, grouped by age and gender, with supervision from monitors and campus security throughout. You do not leave campus during the session.
How the Application Works
Applications open each fall for the following summer's sessions. For the 2027 sessions, for example, the portal opened September 14, 2026. Eligible applications go into a randomized, computer-generated draw rather than a competitive review, so a strong application does not guarantee a spot the way it would for a scholarship.
If You Are Not a First-Language Francophone: Explore
Anglophone and allophone Canadians who want a comparable free French immersion trip should apply to Explore, the sister program run through the same OLP-PLO portal . Explore runs for English speakers learning French and for French speakers learning English, in age bands of 13 to 15, 16 to 17, and 18 and up.
Sessions for participants aged 16 and older last 31 to 33 days, while the 13 to 15 age band runs a three-week summer session. Per Canadian Heritage , the bursary covers $4,000 per participant aged 16 and older, and $2,800 for the 13 to 15 group, covering tuition, materials, meals and lodging. You need Canadian citizenship or permanent residency and at least one term of school enrollment in the current school year to qualify. Recent Odyssey program participants, a related teaching-exchange program, also qualify for Explore if they took part within the previous two years.
Explore places participants at a host college or university, where you study French alongside a group of other second-language learners rather than joining a francophone student body. That is a different experience from Destination Clic, where French-first-language students spend the program surrounded by other francophones from across the country.
Destination Clic vs Explore at a Glance
| Feature | Destination Clic | Explore |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | French-first-language students outside Quebec | English-speaking and allophone Canadians, and francophones learning English |
| Grade or age | Grades 8 to 10 | Ages 13 to 15, 16 to 17, or 18 and up |
| Length | 19 to 21 days | 3 weeks (13 to 15) or 31 to 33 days (16 and up) |
| Selection | Random draw among eligible applicants | Random draw among eligible applicants |
| Where | Campuses in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick | Campuses across Canada |
Both programs share the same application portal at englishfrench.ca, so check both listings before you assume the wrong one applies to your situation.
Why Two Mirror Programs Exist
Canada funds language-learning trips for both sides of the same policy goal: keeping French-speaking minority communities connected to their language outside Quebec, and building French skills among English-speaking and allophone Canadians. Destination Clic serves the first goal, Explore the second. Reading the eligibility rules carefully before you apply saves you from submitting to the wrong program and missing the deadline for the one that fits your situation.
Before You Submit an Application
Confirm which language you were first taught in, since that single fact decides between Destination Clic and Explore.
Check your grade or age against the current year's bands before you start the form, since both programs enforce them strictly.
Ask your school to confirm your enrollment status in case the program requests it during review.
Mark the September application window on your calendar a year ahead, since both programs run on a fall-for-next-summer schedule.