The global skills strategy is another program that we introduced last year, that came directly from employers. Employers were telling us that it was simply taking too long to get talent into Canada, and that we should streamline the process. We've delivered that engagement with the global skills strategy. It gets talent, and processes the work permit applications. In certain categories it has dropped that processing from seven months to two weeks.
In addition to that, researchers who are coming to conduct research at Canadian educational institutions or research institutes are exempted from obtaining a work permit. They can come for up to 120 days to conduct their research, collaborate with Canadian researchers and innovators, and then go back to their countries. Senior executives who come to do short-term leadership training or consulting can come for short periods of time without a work permit.
These programs are great, because they expose our research and innovation ecosystem to others. If they like what they see and have a good experience, they are then eligible to apply to stay permanently through the express entry system. We have made some changes to that as well, to encourage more international students, more francophone immigrants, more people who have siblings in Canada. Those changes are having an impact.
For example on the francophone side, we're seeing a doubling of the number of successful applicants coming through the express entry system, by some of the changes we made last year.