Cameroon and Canada say they want to better regulate Cameroonian migration to Canada amid high visa rejection rates, recurring document fraud, and a mismatch between some applicants’ profiles and Canadian labor market needs.

During a meeting held in Yaoundé on April 29, 2026, Cameroon’s Minister of Trade, Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, and Canada’s High Commissioner to Cameroon, Marie-Claude Harvey, discussed reforms to mobility mechanisms between the two countries.

According to Cameroon’s Ministry of Trade, the objective is to better structure departures to Canada by aligning them with clearly identified professional needs.

For Ottawa, one of the main challenges concerns the quality of visa applications submitted.

“Visa refusal rates for Canada are much higher because we are discovering increasing levels of fraud in the documents being presented,” said Marie-Pierre Côté, migration counselor at the Canadian High Commission.

Canadian authorities say they intend to strengthen verification work conducted with Cameroonian administrations.

Another issue highlighted is the gap between the qualifications of some migration candidates and the skills sought in Canada.

To address this challenge, both countries are focusing on upstream training initiatives.

The proposed approach involves developing technical training programs locally in Cameroon based on the needs of the Canadian labor market.

The initiative could build on a memorandum of understanding signed in February between Cameroon’s Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Higher Education, and the University of Yaoundé I for the benefit of the National Advanced School of Engineering of Yaoundé.

The institution is expected to play a central role in the project with support from Canadian experts.

For Cameroonian authorities, the challenge goes beyond organizing migration flows.

Officials also want to preserve the country’s need for skilled labor at a time when the international mobility of young graduates continues to fuel debate over brain drain.

The issue is becoming more significant as the Cameroonian community in Canada keeps growing.

At the end of October 2024, Cameroon’s High Commissioner to Canada, Ngole Philip Ngwese, estimated the Cameroonian community there at about 50,000 people in comments published by Cameroon Tribune, while acknowledging that the estimate remained fragile because of low consular registration levels.

The Cameroonian government says it sees the partnership as an extension of its youth training and employment policy.

Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana reaffirmed Cameroon’s willingness to host specialized trainers to prepare workers for emerging professions.

Source: Business in Cameroon