Horizontal initiative - Roadmap for Canada’s official languages 2013-18

General information

Name of horizontal initiative
Roadmap for Canada’s Official Languages 2013-18
Name of lead department(s)
Canadian Heritage
Federal partner organization(s)
Health Canada, Justice Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada, National Research Council, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Canada Council for the Arts, Employment and Social Development Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario, Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, Western Economic Diversification Canada, Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (this document uses the names of federal institutions currently in effect).
Non-federal and non-governmental partner(s)
Not applicable
Start date of the horizontal initiative
April 1, 2013
End date of the horizontal initiative
March 31, 2018
Total federal funding allocated (start to end date)
$1,124.04 million
Funding contributed by non-federal and non-governmental partners
Not applicable
Description of the horizontal initiative
The Roadmap for Canada’s Official Languages 2013-18 (Roadmap 2013-18), with a budget of $1,124.04 million over five years, is a continuation of efforts deployed in the preceding Roadmap for Canada’s Linguistic Duality 2008 13: Acting for the Future and continues to advance obligations and commitments that stem from Part VII of the Official Languages Act.
The Roadmap 2013-18 is a Government of Canada policy statement. It includes 28 initiatives to be implemented by 14 federal institutions and that are intended to strengthen and promote linguistic duality. The initiatives are grouped according to three pillars: education, immigration and community support. Within the framework of the Roadmap 2013-18, the Government of Canada will continue to strive for tangible results for Canadians, greater efficiency in the use of public funds and more efficient program delivery.

Web Site: http://canada.pch.gc.ca/eng/1456932837796/1456932898448
Shared outcome(s)

The Roadmap 2013-2018 is structured according to its own Program Alignment Architecture model. Its strategic outcome is: “Canadians live and thrive in both official languages and recognize the importance of French and English for Canada’s national identity, development and prosperity”.
The Roadmap 2013-18's strategic outcome is aligned with federal obligations and commitments under Part VII of the Official Languages Act and is presented in three pillars that contribute to the achievement of the following objectives:

  • Education: Canadians benefit from education and training opportunities in their first official language, from opportunities for learning the country’s other official language, and from access to technological tools, and they take advantage of the many of the resulting social, economic, cultural and identity benefits.
  • Immigration: Newcomers’ skills in one or both official languages are reinforced, allowing them to more fully contribute to Canada’s economic, social and cultural development. An increasing number of French-speaking immigrants settle in official-language minority communities (OLMCs).
  • Communities: The vitality of both official languages and of the OLMCs that embody them is increased, enabling them to contribute fully to Canadian society, and to Canada’s history, national identity, development and prosperity.
The architecture of the Roadmap 2013-18 is structured so that the results of each of the 28 initiatives of the Roadmap 2013-18 contribute to achieving the objectives of the three pillars and collectively, to the strategic outcome.
Governance structures

The Minister of Canadian Heritage is responsible for coordinating the implementation of the Roadmap 2013-18. The Official Languages Branch (OLB) of Canadian Heritage supports the Minister of Canadian Heritage in this implementation and is responsible for coordinating the reporting and accountability activities for the Roadmap 2013-18. The OLB collects financial and non-financial information from partners in order to report on the planning and performance of the Roadmap 2013-2018 initiatives.
The OLB also supports the overall governance of official languages through various mechanisms and committees:

  • The Committee of Assistant Deputy Ministers on Official Languages (CADMOL) meets in plenary session annually in the fall to approve the planning and strategic direction for official Languages.
  • The Executive Committee of Assistant Deputy Ministers on Official Languages (CADMOL-EX) meets on a quarterly basis to discuss and support strategic activities regarding official languages, including the implementation of the Roadmap 2013-18.
  • The committee of Directors General (DG Forum) of the Roadmap 2013-18 partner organizations and departments responsible for official languages coordination meets regularly to discuss strategic policy issues and government-wide strategies related specifically to the Roadmap 2013-18.
In addition to these committees, other federal stakeholders have key roles and responsibilities in the broader governance and coordination of official languages.
Performance highlights

The 2015-16 year is the third year of the implementation of the Roadmap 2013-18. Initiatives are already underway in priority areas of actions on official languages, such as, education, immigration, health, youth, arts and culture, justice or economic development.
Many of these initiatives aim, among other things, to provide grants and contributions to beneficiaries, to develop information strategies for Canadian citizens and newcomers, to increase the supply of bilingual services in different priority areas for Canadians, or to implement agreements between the government of Canada and provincial and territorial governments.

The different committees responsible for the governance of this horizontal initiative implement strategies to monitor, measure, achieve and measure the results.
Results to be achieved by non-federal and non governmental partners
Not applicable.
Contact information

Jean-Pierre C. Gauthier
Director General
Official Languages Branch
15 Eddy, Gatineau,
(819) 994-0943

jean-pierrec.gauthier@canada.ca
Pillar 1: education
Federal organizationsLink to department’s program alignment architecturesContributing programs and activitiesTotal allocation (from start date to end date)2015-16
(dollars)
Planned spendingActual spendingExpected resultsActual results against targets
Canadian Heritage Official Languages Support for minority language education $265,024,040 $53,004,808

$53,004,808

(This amount represents only a portion of the Canadian Heritage’s investment)
Offer of provincial and territorial programs and activities to provide education in the language of OLMCs at all levels of education

The Department manages 13 bilateral agreements on education with provincial and territorial governments to support education in the language of the OLMCs.

These agreements have helped almost 240,000 young Canadians in minority communities study in their language in more than 900 schools across Canada and supported the work of 40 minority-language school boards and 39 minority-language post-secondary institutions in all regions of Canada.
Canadian Heritage Official Languages Support for minority language education $175,024,040 $35,004,808

$35,004,808

(This amount represents only a portion of the Canadian Heritage’s investment)
Offer of provincial and territorial programs and activities related to learning English and French as second official languages Canadian Heritage’s investments support provincial and territorial governments offer programs and activities that have helped 2.4 million young Canadians to learn French or English as a second language in majority schools, including more than 356,000 young English-speaking Canadians learning French in immersion programs.
Canadian Heritage Official Languages Summer language bursaries $36,604,830 $7,320,966

$7,320,966

(This amount represents only a portion of the Canadian Heritage’s investment)
Offer of summer language bursaries

The Destination Clic program enabled 140 young Francophones from OLMCs to improve their first official language while discovering other French-speaking communities in Canada.

The Explore program enabled 7,057 young Canadians to take part in a summer program to learn their second official-language or perfect their skills.
Canadian Heritage Official Languages Official- language monitors $18,604,825 $3,720,965

$3,720,965

(This amount represents only a portion of the Canadian Heritage’s investment)
Offer of official-language monitor positions The Odyssey program enabled 301 young Canadians to work as second-language assistants in schools across Canada, or to work as French-language assistants in minority-language schools.
Canadian Heritage Attachment to Canada Exchanges Canada $11,250,000 $2,250,000

$2,250,000

(This amount represents only a portion of the Canadian Heritage’s investment)
Exchanges Canada will continue to provide funding to youth-serving organizations, many of whom provide Canadian youth with experiences in their second official language. A portion of Exchanges Canada program resources will be dedicated to organizations who deliver bilingual youth forums and exchanges, such as the Society for Educational Visits and Exchanges in Canada (SEVEC).

In 2014-15 (most recent participant data available*), the Exchanges Canada Program offered opportunities for over 12,600 Canadian youth to participate in exchange and forum activities, many of which gave the youth a chance to practice and improve their second official language while connecting with other young people from different parts of the country.  For example, Experiences Canada (formerly known as the SEVEC) delivered close to 2,500 bilingual youth exchanges, where groups of Canadian youth who spoke primarily one official language were twinned with another group who spoke primarily the other official language.  Additionally, SEVEC delivered 246 OLMC exchanges, where one or both groups of youth from an OLMC were twinned together in an exchange in their first official language (for example, an Anglophone group from British Columbia and an Anglophone group from Quebec were twinned together for an English language exchange).

*Results from the final reports for a specific fiscal year are only made available the following fiscal year - the statistics provided here reflect the most recent results available, but 2015-2016 results will not be available until December 2016.
Health Canada

A healthcare system that responds to the needs of Canadians

OLMCs’ Development

Training, networks and access to health services (education component) $106,500,000 $21,733,333 $21,733,333

Increased access to bilingual health professionals and intake staff in OLMCs.

Contribution agreements were maintained with 13 postsecondary institutions that have been designated to train additional French-speaking health professionals outside Quebec and to provide language training and retention opportunities to health personnel in Quebec to better serve English-speaking minority communities.
In 2015-16, 787 students graduated from the 100 French-language academic health programs funded by Health Canada in 11 colleges and universities located outside of Quebec. These graduates have increased the availability of health human resources to meet the needs of OLMCs in Canada.
In addition, 75 employees of the health and social services sector in Quebec completed language training funded by Health Canada to better serve English-speaking communities of Quebec.
For the 2015-16 academic year, research grants and bursaries totaling over $167,000 were issued for research projects, dissertations, theses, and summer bursaries for University of Ottawa projects for improving the health of French linguistic minorities. In addition, research grants totalling over $23,000 supported five research projects at McGill University for the study of English-language access to health services in Quebec. These funds were provided thanks to Health Canada funding.

In 2015, La Cité, collège d’arts appliqués et de technologie, entered into an agreement with the Nunavut Department of Health to enable work placements for students from health programs across health services institutions in Nunavut from September 2015 to September 2017. This initiative facilitates French-speaking student placements in an environment where French-speaking communities are remote and scattered.
Justice Canada Stewardship of the Canadian Legal Framework Networks, training and access to justice services (education component) $ 18 936 200 $3,770,819 $3,765,313 Canadians have access to a criminal justice system in the official language of their choice Justice system stakeholders (prosecutors, court clerks, judges, etc.) have access to specialized language training in order to facilitate access to justice for individuals in the official language of their choice in 100% of provinces and territories.
Justice Canada Internal Services Networks, training and access to justice services (education component) $63,800

$11,781

(PSPC accommodation charges excluded)

$11,780

(PSPC accommodation charges excluded)
N/A N/A
Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) Terminology Standardization Program Language Portal of Canada $16,000,000 $3,200,000 $2,915,673

Update, expand and promote the Language Portal of Canada

Develop new content (quizzes, articles, headlines) to help Canadians communicate better in both official languages.
Publish articles written by Canadian contributors, especially from OLMCs.
Add hyperlinks to Canadian language resources.

Carry out promotional activities, especially through Portal Ambassadors and social media (Twitter, Facebook, blog).

4.9 million page views for the Language Portal of Canada
More than 400 updates, including quizzes, articles and headlines, 34 articles provided by Portal contributors; and nearly 100 new hyperlinks including the added content on indigenous languages.
Promotional activities include: a national advertising campaign (Google Adwords and Twitter Poll Ad campaigns); partnerships with organizations such as les Rendez-vous de la Francophonie, Editors Association Canada and l’Association canadienne d’éducation de langue française (ACELF)
Cross-promotion activities with Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Asian Heritage Month), Canadian Heritage (PanAm Games), Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (National Aboriginal History Month),  Groupe Media TFO, etc.
Marketing of the Portal through social media: creation of Language Portal Twitter accounts (@ourlanguages and @noslangues), daily tweets on Twitter, added feature of a Tweet wall on the Portal site, posts on LinkedIn, e-cards shared on Facebook, etc.;
Marketing of the Language Portal Ambassador Program which allows over 90 ambassadors to promote the Portal in their professional and social networks (including the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages).
Planning of six national initiatives that the Language Portal will lead to commemorate Canada 150th anniversary of Confederation.
Work accomplished in preparation for the revamping of the Language Portal and its migration to the Canada.ca website:

  • Critical assessment of the current site’s content and work in progress to renew the content of the various sections 
  • Elimination of the redundant, outdated and trivial content in the writing tools, which involves a review of 22,000 web pages and ongoing improvement of the search functionality of the linguistic databank.

Update the linguistic content of 4 Writing tools (2 French and 2 in English), representing a total of nearly 5,000 Web pages.

The 2016 Portal Evaluation Report showed that the Portal is well managed and is meeting its objectives and reaching its targeted audience.
National Research Council (NRC)

Technology Development and Advancement

Information and Communications Technologies

Strengthening the language industry and technologies $10,000,000 $2,000,000 $2,000,000

PORTAGE translation software commercialization:

- A substantially improved version of the Portage machine translation technology will be released: PORTAGE II-3.0. At a minimum. This will be licensed to the current three commercial clients (CLS Lexi-tech, Traductions Serge Belair, and Silex Créations) via our reseller, Terminotix Inc.
- The Portage on Civil Servants’ Desks (POCSD), a joint project between the NRC, the Translation Bureau, and Shared Services Canada, will be initiated. The objective of the project is to develop and make available a customized version of the Portage system for English-to-French and French-to-English translation to all federal public servants. The first phase of this project is launched: a pilot study whereby Portage machine translation will be made available to a small number of public servants (100-200) for initial tests.
- NRC will develop Russian-to-English machine translation capabilities.
Improving Canada’s security by deploying natural language processing technologies:
- Continue to participate in the Countering Security Threats using Natural Language Processing (CST) project, whose goal is to provide end-users in the security sector with advanced tools for filtering, summarizing and analyzing multilingual texts to monitor risks to Canada and public perceptions of those risks.
Multilingual text comprehension of patient health records:

- Continue its participation in EURECA, a European Union project.

Natural Language Processing (NLP) Accomplishments at NRC
Industry use of Portage MT Software
Continued commercial license of Portage to Terminotix, who sublicense it to translation firms.

Government use of the Portage MT Software
The Courts Administration Service (CAS) and NRC conducted a pilot study and determined that Portage has the potential to reduce the cost and turnaround times of CAS’s translation workload (8 million words a year).
The MÉTÉO project carried out by the federal Translation Bureau has provided Environment Canada with versions of Portage that translate weather reports (English to French and French to English).
NRC worked with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in Ohio, USA to implement two new NN-based algorithms that improve the quality of MT.
Language Technologies for improving Canada’s security
NRC completed the CST project that to help intelligence analysts to rapidly identify impending threats.
NRC applied NLP technologies to assist human analysts in marine surveillance in Northern Canada. 

  • NRC created a web scraper that collects text from across the Internet.
  • NRC created a Named Entity Recognizer (NER), that recognizes individuals, boat names, and other facts expressed in natural language.

NRC carried out a feasibility study on building a machine translation (MT) system for translating from an African language to English.
NRC built a world-leading Machine Translation (MT) system for translating texts from Russian to English.

Language Technologies for improving healthcare
EURECA: NRC delivered the final version of the tool to the EURECA consortium. The tool was also licensed to KFL&A Public Health in Ontario (Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington).

PHAC: Over the same period, NRC began to develop a health surveillance tool for global mainstream media in multiple languages.
Pillar 2: immigration
Federal organizationsLink to department’s program alignment architecturesContributing programs and activitiesTotal allocation (from start date to end date)2015-16
(dollars)
Planned spendingActual spendingExpected resultsActual results against targets
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Newcomers Settlement and Integration Language training for economic immigrants $120,000,000 $24,000,000

$24,000,000

(This reflects only a small portion of IRCC’s investment for the Language training for economic immigrants.)
Enhance the French services offered to French-speaking immigrants as part of the Settlement Program, including language training For 2015-16, in provinces and territories outside of Quebec, preliminary data indicate that 44,607 economic immigrants (unique clients) were enrolled in Language Training and they represented 42% of clients who used Language Training. (Source: IRCC, Settlement Service, April 2016 data).
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Newcomers Settlement and Integration Immigration to OLMCs (including Support to Francophone immigration in New Brunswick) $29,398,470 * $6,000,000

$6,037,726

(This reflects only a small portion of IRCC’s investment for the Immigration to OLMCs)

Continue to:
- Conduct promotion and recruitment activities in Canada and abroad.
- Provide settlement services to French-speaking clients.
- Coordinate and consult with key stakeholders.
- Conduct strategic data development as well as research and develop knowledge sharing projects for immigration to both Francophone Minority Communities (FMCs) and English speaking communities.
- In addition, IRCC will invest $1million to support the integration of French-speaking immigrants in New Brunswick. As IRCC is moving toward a more standardized approach at the national level, ongoing investments will aim for a more consistent approach to foster immigration to FMCs across the country.

Settlement :
Francophone pre-arrival services
Following a national call for proposals for pre‑arrival settlement services, IRCC accepted to fund 29 organizations, four of which were Francophone organizations, to offer pre‑arrival services (in person and online) adapted to Francophone immigrants prior to their arrival in Canada as of April 1, 2015. The selection of these organizations promotes a “by and for Francophones” approach whereby Francophone organizations can offer orientation services in French to Francophone newcomers at the start of their integration process, and Francophone communities can form ties with these newly arrived immigrants. These services to Francophone immigrants are specifically promoted through the canada.ca/immigrationfranco landing page which hyperlink is now included in the confirmation of permanent residence letters sent by all overseas visa offices, in both English and French.
Continued development of the Francophone Immigration Networks (FIN)
IRCC supports thirteen Francophone Immigration Support Networks (funding; collaboration; information sharing). The continued collaboration between IRCC, the Fédération des communautés Francophones et acadiennes (FCFA) and the Francophone Immigration Networks (FINs) helps improve the coordination of settlement and integration services offered to Francophone immigrants in FMCs. Partners and stakeholders are engaged in settlement issues and the implementation of community plans and strategies that aim to: respond to the settlement needs of newcomers within FMCs; and to help achieve the 4% target in economic immigration by 2018 or 4.4% immigration in all categories by 2023. 
For fiscal year 2015-16, examples of activities include seven procurement contracts in the Western Region that connect newcomer refugees to Francophone communities.These programs are aimed at improving newcomer integration and retention in OLMCs.  Tangible impacts of this project include improved settlement information and resources for Francophone newcomers through orientation sessions on the availability of Francophone services in Metro Vancouver; the development of a Cyberfolio, which contains online resources for Francophone newcomers; field trips to introduce Francophone newcomers to rural communities in southern Saskatchewan; a research project focused on the retention of Francophone international students in Alberta; the conceptualization and reprogramming of a bilingual website for employers through the Conseil de la Coopération de la Saskatchewan; and Espace Emploi event in Winnipeg to promote the hiring of Francophone newcomers.
Promotion and recruitment:
"Entrée francophone"
In 2016, IRCC developed "Entrée francophone," an initiative to support and promote Francophone and bilingual applicants who are in the Express Entry pool by matching those candidates with Francophone immigration partners (employers, provinces, FINs, RDÉE, etc.) for the issuance of certificates of nomination or job offers.
The objective is to increase the number of Francophone applicants who create a profile in the Express Entry pool, thereby increasing the number of Francophone applicants invited to submit an application and therefore the number of Francophone immigrants settling in OLMCs.
Promotion of Francophone immigration in Canada
Through its visa offices in Dakar, Paris, Rabat and Tunis, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) collaborated with many stakeholders (Fédération des communautés Francophones et acadienne (FCFA), Réseau de développement économique et d'employabilité (RDÉE), Francophone Immigration Networks (FINs), provinces and territories, public employment agencies abroad) to establish an efficient promotion and recruitment strategy for Francophone immigration in FMCs. In Canada, the visa offices pursued their outreach activities with the FMCs in partnership with the Employer Liaison Network officers.
In 2015-16, the Paris and Dakar offices undertook liaison trips to Canada (Ottawa, and Toronto) in partnership with the FCFA, RDÉE, as well as some localFINs. These liaison trips allowed IRCC to survey the opinion of Francophone communities (including employers, Francophone organizations, professional sector councils, municipalities and chambers of commerce) on the needs of the labour market as well as the desired demographic support from Francophone immigration. They also promoted recruitment mechanisms abroad to interested employers, as well as to the Francophone work force available in the source countries for Francophone immigrants in Europe, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. 
Promotion and recruitment of Francophones in Francophone countries
The Visa offices abroad collaborated with organizations such as European and African public employment agencies (Pôle emploi international [France], FOREM [Wallonie], Actiris International [Bruxelles], VDAB [Flandres], ANETI and ACTC [Tunisie], Fonds National pour l’Emploi [Cameroun] and Agence Emploi Jeunes [Côte d’Ivoire]) to provide employers in OLMCs with support services for recruitment. It is important to highlight that employers in OLMCS can benefit from these free preselected skilled Francophone applicants services at any time during the year.
Furthermore, the visa offices in Paris, Dakar, Tunis and Rabat participated and/or organized many activities promoting Francophone immigration and Express Entry in their respective countries of responsibility (France, Belgium, Tunisia, Morocco, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal and Burkina-Faso). These activities involved participation in forums and the organization of information sessions in person or through webconferences to educate potential Francophone immigrants to the francophonie outside of Quebec. In total, in 2015, the visa offices in Paris, Dakar, Rabat and Tunis met with over 21,000 participants in person.
Visa offices continue to a greater number to organize information sessions through webconferences, which allow greater participation by applicants from all over the world while reducing costs. The Paris office organized 45 webconferences in 2015-16 which attracted more than 5,500 participants. A series of webconferences was organized with the provinces and territories (other than Quebec), and others were organized in collaboration with the FCFA to promote life in French and the OLMCs. Another series is being presented at this time about work opportunities in various sectors of the Canadian economy.
The visa offices of Paris, Rabat and Dakar participated in the 1st Employment Virtual Fair organized by RDÉE Canada and Recruitment & International Mobility Inc. (RIM). This type of activity makes it possible to reach a larger audience internationally and to establish contact between employers and Francophone organizations across Canada.
Communications products and initiatives
Four new videos that are part of the “Live the Francophone Life in Canada” series were launched last year. They are available on IRCC’s website and YouTube Channel. Shorter versions of these videos were also produced and promoted through social media. The videos showcase why people chose to come to Canada and live in a Francophone minority community and how they are experiencing life in Canada. The personal stories of immigrants are a very powerful tool to connect with potential immigrants who are considering a temporary or permanent move to Canada.
IRCC promoted the new Express Entry system to potential Francophone immigrants. For example, the Department undertook direct marketing to promote the possibility of obtaining more points in Express Entry by providing language test results in French and English. IRCC contacted 92,000 people, and the reading rate was 47%. This initiative is important because people need to know how they can use their language skills to their advantage in the application system. Through direct email, fact sheets, outreach, posters, social media and bookmarks, the Department promoted immigration to Francophone communities outside Quebec to international students, people abroad and employers.
Language Training for Canada video
IRCC’s Language Training for Canada video is intended to raise newcomers’ awareness of the importance of official language skills for settlement in Canada. It is available on the Department’s website at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/multimedia/video/settlement-language/settlement-language.asp or in HD on IRCC’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7O924191lk. Its intended audience includes those who have not yet arrived, as well as those already in Canada. The video explains the steps to take and encourages people to start improving their language skills as soon as possible. Since its release in August 2014, it had more than 26,000 views in English and over 4,000 views in French. Within one week of its release in mid-March 2016, the Arabic version of the video (available at https://youtu.be/epNZbEuC3YM) had more than 150 views. Additional information on language classes funded by the Government of Canada is available at http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcomers/live/language.asp
Research activities:
Development and launch of the Request for Proposals (RFP) 2015-16. This competitive bidding process posted on the Buy and Sell website enabled the funding of 4 research projects (2 on the Francophone minority communities and 2 on the English-speaking communities in Quebec). The projects are expected to be completed by the fall of 2016. Once completed, these projects will be shared with our partners.
The development of a new measure of French and English-speaking immigrants, approved by the Honourable Minister McCallum in February 2016, will enhance understanding and better reflect the realities of French-speaking (and English) immigration at the national and regional levels. The operational implementation of the measure is underway.
The development of the statistical portrait Facts and Figures provides a wide range of data on the number of French-speaking permanent residents admitted annually outside of Quebec.  The Facts and Figures for English-speaking permanent residents admitted annually in Quebec will be published shortly.

Development of an internal web page on research on immigration in OLMCs. This initiative enables the research team to present the main research and mobilization activities to partners within the Department.
Pillar 3: community
Federal organizationsLink to department’s program alignment architecturesContributing programs and activitiesTotal allocation (from start date to end date)2015-16
(dollars)
Planned spendingActual spendingExpected resultsActual results against targets
Canadian Heritage Official Languages Support for OLMCs $22,262,275 $4,452,455

$4,452,455

(This amount represents only a portion of the Canadian Heritage’s investment)
Offer of activities and services designed for OLMCs by community organizations

The department financially supported more than 350 national, provincial and local community organizations working directly on the development and vitality of OLMCs received funding from Canadian Heritage. This support has rendered it possible to:

  • offer cultural and educational services to targeted groups, such as parents and youth;
  • support over 30 school-community centers, which often represent the main or only gathering place for over 155,000 Francophones who live in areas where access to services and activities in French would otherwise be very limited;
  • create activities in several other cultural or community centers;
hold large cultural gatherings, and also activities at the regional and local levels, as well as fund organizations that support the work of over a hundred community media outlets (radio stations and newspapers).
Canadian Heritage Official Languages Intergovernmental cooperation $22,262,275 $4,452,455

$4,452,455

(This amount represents only a portion of the Canadian Heritage’s investment)
Offer of minority-language services by provincial and territorial governments, in areas other than education

Thirteen bilateral agreements with provincial and territorial governments aiming to provide direct services to the minority-language population in areas other than education, especially in justice, health, culture, economic development and municipal services.

Funding from Canadian Heritage supports the delivery of services offered by provincial and territorial governments, including measures taken to implement the laws, regulations or policies on French-language services outside Quebec and English-language services in Quebec.
Canadian Heritage Official Languages Community Cultural Action Fund $10,000,000 $2,750,000 $2,750,000 Offer of activities and services designed to strengthen and ensure the visibility of OLMCs’ action in the areas of arts, culture and heritage

The Community Cultural Action Fund (CCAF) is used to support and strengthen cultural activities, arts and heritage of official-language minority communities and ensure the sharing of the richness and diversity of the cultural and artistic expressions of communities. In 2015-2016, the Department has invested more than 2.7 million of dollars in the CCAF which allowed Canadian non-profit organizations and provincial and territorial governments to implement many initiatives for the development of Francophone and Anglophone minority communities in all regions of the country.

The Voice of English-Speaking Quebec for “Once upon a Memory” is an intergenerational funded project that enables 300 young English-speaking of Quebec to learn interview and data collection skills towards creating a history book on their community in Quebec with the participation of fifty seniors.
Canadian Heritage Cultural industries

Music Showcases Program for Artists from OLMCs

$5,750,000 $1,150,000 $1,150,000

Organizing music showcases offering OLMCs artists opportunities to perform and for the communities to have access to music in their language. Music showcases will be promoted digitally during events and tours that have a digital component.

In accordance with the contribution agreements, the complete report of accomplishments for 2015-16 will be available in July 2016.
Contribution agreements between the Department of Canadian Heritage and third party administrators, FACTOR and Musicaction, have ensured that funds were delivered to presenters to organize music showcases for OLMC’s artists.
More than 392 OLMC’s artists performed in over 865 music showcases presented at regional, national and international events, in addition to several touring opportunities.  Many music showcases had a digital promotion component associated to them.

Since the launch of this initiative in 2008, artists from OLMCs have been exposed to a larger audience while OLMCs have had access to music showcases in their language (regional and national showcases).  Specifically, an average of 200 artists and 400 showcases are supported annually compared to only 40 artists and 85 showcases before 2008. As such, there has been an increased access (e.g. consumption) to music of OLMCs artists in many formats (live performance, on-line access, album sales, etc…).
Canadian Heritage Cultural industries National Translation Program for Book Publishing $4,000,000 $800,000 $800,000 Canadian publishers translate Canadian-authored books from one official language to the other

Funding was allocated to Canadian publishers for eligible translations.

The NTPBP funded the translation of 69 Canadian-authored books from one official language to the other.
Canada Council for the Arts (CCA) Grants and services to support creation, production and dissemination of arts for individuals and organizations Market Access Strategy for Artists from OLMCs $2,750,000 $500,000 $498,745

Increased participation by OLMC artists and arts organizations in existing market access events and networks
Increased national and international touring and travel opportunities

New and/or improved professional development opportunities and tools for OLMC artists, leading to stronger market development capacity
In 2015-16, 40% of the CCA’s Market Access Strategy support went to projects that reinforce existing markets, 42% to projects that created new markets, 11% to professional development in market access, and 7% to enhance market readiness. Of the total funding 40% supported Anglophone recipients while 60% supported Francophone recipients.
Health Canada

A healthcare system that responds to the needs of Canadians

OLMCs’ Development
Training, networks and access to health services (communities component) $67,800,000 $15,336,667 $15,336,667 Increased provision of services within health institutions for OLMCs

Partnerships were maintained with 38 health networks and organizations acting as project sponsors aiming to improve access to health care services in official language minority communities, for example:

  • RésoSanté Colombie-Britannique launched its new website with interactive search functions to find health professionals who speak French and a directory of health professionals (which identified more than 1 000 professionals) was updated.
  • A project with the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada is integrating French-speaking medical graduates from Canada’s English-language universities and Québec universities into French linguistic minority communities through training, internships and supports. In 2015-16, the project had identified over 550 Francophone and Francophile learners across 13 faculties of medicine, 16 students received internship placements in French linguistic minority communities (11 different facilities in 8 cities), and 332 students participated in training sessions.
  • Pilot projects in Northern Ontario, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland & Labrador, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories assessed the use and effectiveness of health interpreters in accessing services in regions where French-speaking providers are scarce. In addition, the Accueil Francophone de Thunder Bay provided on-demand interpretation services to address the shortage of French-speaking health human resources in Northern Ontario.
The 2015 edition of the directory of health and social service resources for English-speaking communities in the East Island of Montreal and the directory of resources for English-speaking seniors, created by the East-Island Network for English-Language Services (REISA), were disseminated by the Montreal East Island Integrated University Health and Social Services Centre and posted on its website.
Justice Canada Stewardship of the Canadian Legal Framework Contraventions Act Fund $47,591,855 $9,823,455 $3,888,754 Canadians in designated areas who have received federal contraventions have access to the justice system using the official language of choice In 2015-16 the Department advanced work needed to see the implementation of the regime in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Department has had regular communications with its counterparts towards the last element needed before implementation, namely a signed agreement with provisions to guarantee language rights. As well, the Department received confirmation from Alberta that it is interested in implementing the Contraventions regime; discussions with Alberta to this end are expected take place in the new year.
Justice Canada Internal Services Contraventions Act Fund $2,019,775

$52,505

(PSPC accommodation charges excluded)

$127,530

(PSPC accommodation charges excluded)
N/A N/A
Justice Canada Stewardship of the Canadian Legal Framework Training, networks and access to justice services (communities component) $20,433,000 $4,090,215 $3,641,984 Canadians have access to legal information regarding their rights and responsibilities in the official language of choice through a hub that will provide Canadians with legal information through a telephone helpline, online or in person

100 % of Canadians have access to legal information regarding their rights and responsibilities in the official language of their choice through a hub providing Canadians with legal information online, through a telephone helpline, or in person.
Under the Support Fund, the Department reviewed 30 new funding proposals and funded 43 projects in 2015-16 (including multi-year projects approved in previous years):

  • Fourteen projects funded under the Training Component supported training for more than 626 justice professionals (including provincially appointed judges, provincial crown attorneys, probation officers, and clerks) to improve their capacity to delivery services in both official languages.  Seven of these projects provided specialized language training programs to more than forty provincial court judges from eleven jurisdictions.
  • Twenty projects aimed to raise awareness and support public legal information activities to promote increased access to justice services in both official languages. For example, a project by Éducaloi aimed to provide legal and language rights information to the English-speaking community of Quebec, while five other projects supported the establishment of Justice Hub Centres.
  • Three projects contributed to the development of a curriculum for bilingual students interested in pursuing a career in the field of justice.
  • Six projects focused on developing linguistic training tools, including the Jurisource.ca portal which provides legal and jurilinguistic resources to justice professionals working with official language minority communities.
The Support Fund also supports the work of web portals such as Cliquezjustice.ca and Éducaloi.qc.ca which provide legal information to official language minority communities across the country in the official language of their choice.
Justice Canada Internal Services Training, networks and access to justice services (communities component) $762,000

$81,730

(PSPC accommodation charges excluded)

$128,696

(PSPC accommodation charges excluded)
N/A N/A
Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) Skills and Employment Enabling Fund for OLMCs $69,000,000 $13,800,000 $13,203,946

The OLMCs are better informed, skilled, resourced and served
Enabling Fund recipient organizations support the coalescence of resources and efforts and enable community-wide participatory approaches. It is expected that together they will leverage $23 million in additional funding in 2015‑16 to support community economic and human resources development.

The EF continued to support the operations and activities of a Canada-wide network of leaders in community economic development (CED) and human resources development (HRD) serving official language minority communities (OLMCs) across Canada. In conjunction with their partners (the business community, federal and provincial departments/ministries, service providers, etc.), organizations supported by the EF carried out projects, implemented services and developed accessible tools for CED and HRD players in OLMCs across the country.
The network's efforts contributed to the labour market integration of young professionals and the economic immigration of Francophone immigrants by offering personalized support and services and helped to drive the economic growth of rural communities, for example, in British Columbia, through implementation of the ÉCONOMUSÉE® model. The EF also assisted in the development of bilingual tourism products and services and more effective positioning of the Yukon as a vacation destination in Francophone markets (AFY). Additional EF initiatives facilitated the offer of employment and training services via a one-stop service to meet Francophones' needs in the areas of pre-employment preparation and professional development in, for example, the Northwest Territories.
The EF supported establishment of the Network for Economic Action (NEA) for OLMCs. The NEA brings together RDÉE Canada, the Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation (CEDEC) and the main departments and agencies responsible for economic development at the federal level under the leadership of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). The NEA is a collaborative governance structure whose objective is to promote the participation of key economic development actors in OLMCs.
At the local level, partnerships were established on the labour market side, i.e. between demand (employers) and supply (workers). These partnerships enable more effective coordination of local mechanisms for identifying, recruiting and developing workers and skills in local labour markets.
One outcome for RDÉE Canada was the publication in March 2016 of the white paper Prospérité économique des Francophones et Acadiens ("Economic Prosperity of Francophones and Acadians").The result is a vision and strategic orientation for implementing and more effectively supporting development and growth in OLMCs. The aim of the white paper is to align community economic development resources and efforts and human resources in OLMCs in order to meet the needs of these communities and ensure that efforts in this area are complementary.

The EF received authorization to invest in the implementation of new pilot projects in 2016-17.
Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) Skills and Employment OLMCs Literacy and Essential Skills Initiative $7,500,000 $1,500,000 $1,052,434 The Office of Literacy and Essential Skills (OLES) remains committed to help Canadians improve the Literacy and Essential Skills levels they need to succeed in the labour market and contribute fully to a strong, competitive Canadian economy.

In 2015-16, the five active Roadmap 2013-18 projects achieved the following results.
Réseau pour le développement de l’alphabétisme et des compétences (RESDAC): Analyzed and documented innovative approaches in essential skills: to understand better and take effective action
The following results were achieved:

  • A bilingual practice community gets together and mobilizes to explore, grow, reflect, study and provide mutual support. It contributes to a) the development of knowledge on the issue of strategic skills development to foster employability and b) the emergence of innovative ideas in each community of intervention;
  • The new knowledge generated by the Integrated Model contributes to a better understanding of the strategies, processes and mechanisms of best practices to be developed and implemented as an integrated approach that is systemic, effective and transferable to other Canadian contexts and that meets the needs of the job market and target clientele.

Actions interculturelles de développement et d’éducation (AIDE): Develop Francophone immigrants’ literacy and essential skills
The organization strengthened its partnerships in 7 provinces. In June 2016, the organization and its partners recruited 776 participants. Of those participants, 614 completed 3 questionnaires, 526 completed 4 questionnaires, and 434 completed 5 questionnaires of the 5 questionnaires needed to assess training. The first questionnaire was to be completed when subscribing to the project, the second after training and the other questionnaires were to be completed 3 months after the initial questionnaire. The critical mass of participants needed for statistical analysis was reached. The organization will continue to recruit participants in order to have a better representation in respective provinces.
DECODA Literacy Solutions (DLS) took over the Essential Skills Ontario (ESO) project: Strengthen Canada’s rural communities
DLS partnered with two communities in British Columbia, one in Saskatchewan and two OLMCs. DLS determined the needs of the community, partnered with the community and developed community profiles.
Community Business Development Corporation (CBDC) Restigouche, New Brunswick: Literacy, essential skills and performance in businesses
A total of 10 organizations representing OLMC were recruited. Organizations representing Francophone OLMCs were recruited in Madawaska, New Brunswick, in North Bay and Timmins, Ontario, and in East Interlake, Manitoba. These organizations are now seeking to recruit participating businesses. So far, one business in East Interlake with 113 employees has been mobilized. For the organizations representing the Anglophone OLMCs in Quebec, recruiting and training of participants has been completed in the North Shore, Manicouagan and Baie-des-Chaleurs regions; and they are seeking businesses that could participate in the project.
Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation (CEDEC) took over the Quebec Essential Learning Alliance (QELA) project: WES work-study professional training program designed to fill positions in high-demand sectors

CEDEC conducted a recruiting campaign in nine Anglophone Cree communities in Quebec. This campaign helped educate the communities about potential jobs in the North’s regional aviation sector and introduced the goal of the new vocational diploma/co-op being offered for the Flight Dispatcher profession. Participants from each of the nine communities will train in a cohort from September 2016 to May 2017, held in the Sabtuan Regional Vocational Training Center in Waswanipi, Quebec, where student residences will accommodate the candidate and the candidate’s family during the training period.
Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) Social Development Social Partnership Initiative in OLMCs $4,000,000 $260,000 $0

Partner engagement, leverage plan, community consultation.

The Quebec Community Groups Network (QCGN) and the Fédération des aînées et aînés Francophones du Canada (FAAFC) submitted proposals in Spring 2015 after consultation with their communities on priorities in the area of youth in transition, seniors, and vulnerable populations including families. They further plan to collaboratively share information on processes and learnings.

Proposals were favorably assessed and ministerial project approval was received in April 2016.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) Community economic development Economic Development Initiative (EDI) (Regional Operations) $1,600,000

$380,000

Operations and maintenance

$375,833

Operations and maintenance

Better understanding of OLMCs economic issues

ISED funded 12 studies.  Through its EDI research component, ISED achieved the following immediate result, Federal partners and stakeholders have a better understanding of the economic issues of official language minority communities and the following intermediate result, Communities implement economic development initiatives. 

For example, in terms of tourism, The Réseau de développement économique et d’employabilité du Canada (RDÉE Canada), the Community Economic Development and Employability Corporation (CEDEC) and the Transat Chair in Tourism of the Science and Management School (ESG) of the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM) pooled their efforts to set up a Tourism Intelligence Network that provides its members with strategic information on emerging tourism trends and best practices.  The main success factor of the Tourism Intelligence Network is their ability to come together to identify immediate issues and explore solutions.  These joint planning efforts are needed to determine how to address the next steps involved in developing the tourism offering of OLMCs.  This included a two-day working sessions at the ISED Service Lab in Ottawa. The participant organizations have identified a number of key areas of interest for the future, including research, product development and marketing. Strong alliances have been created across the country, and projects such as the development of a national mobile application for the commercialization of tourism products in Canada and a 1st event on innovation and sustainable development in tourism in North America - ECORISMO Canada, are being carried out.
Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario (FedNor) Community economic development Economic Development Initiative (EDI) $4,450,000 $1,065,000

$1,335,400
Grants and contributions (FedNor)
$67,669
Operations and maintenance—salaries only* (FedNor)

Note: * PSPC and employee benefits plan (EBP) and accomodation charges excluded)

Capacities, new expertise and partnerships developed: 10 projects funded.
A leverage ratio of 1:1

Through the Economic Development Initiative, FedNor achieved the following immediate result, Communities and businesses develop capacity, new expertise and partnerships and the following intermediate result, Entrepreneurs create, maintain and expand enterprises.Investments made in 15 projects completed through EDI during 2015-16 resulted in the creation or maintenance of 55.3 jobs.  For every FedNor dollar invested through EDI during 2015-16, $ 0.96 was leveraged from other sources.        
Canada Economic Development (CED) for Quebec Regions

Quebec Economic Development Program (QEDP)

Targeted or temporary support
Economic Development Initiative (EDI) $10,200,000 $2,360,000 $1,942,788

Value of total investment generated in communities: $5.3 million.

Number of communities that receive targeted and temporary support: 10 communities.

Final outcome: Value of total investment generated in the communities

  • The sum of the total costs of completed projects in 2015-16
  • EDI’s contribution to 2015-16 DPR’s results: 1 600 270$

Intermediate outcome: Percentage of communities supported which received temporary and targeted support

  • The number of individual communities which received financial assistance in 2015-16
EDI’s contribution to 2015-16 DPR’s results: 14 communities.
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA)

Enterprise Development

Economic Development Initiative (EDI) $6,200,000 $1,340,000 $1,227,733

12 projects
16 partnerships

Leveraging 40%

For 2015-16 there were 12 projects approved for a total commitment of $722,285.
The following are examples of projects in each of the three categories:
(1) lnnovation:
L'Université de Moncton - Campus de Shippagan (UMCS) located in northern New Brunswick received financial assistance to design advanced language technology for translation services in OLMCs. A company active in the field of translation, Centre Transmed from Campbelton (New Brunswick) is a partner in this project. UMCS and Centre Transmed together aim to develop an innovative translation technology that will incorporate new innovative vocal and statistical techniques. A human operator will be able to dictate and automatically receive translation vocally even in the noisiest environment and with whatever accent. The project will engage the services of a post-doctorat and research team from the Laboratoire d'interaction Humain-Système (LARHIS).
(2) Economic Diversification:
The Municipality of the District of Clare received financial assistance to launch the first ever Gran Fondo Baie Sainte-Marie on September 26&27 in 2015. Gran Fondos are long-distance, mass participation cycling events which are hugely popular in ltaly. The Gran Fondo Baie Sainte-Marie had a Gran 1 17KM route for more experienced participants and a 35 KM Medio route for more leisure and novice cyclists. Participants also got to experience Acadian culture, savor local cuisine ad discover and discover local arts and crafts during the weekend long event. This event marked the first ever Gran Fondo in Nova Scotia. The Municipality of Clare, home to Nova Scotia's largest Acadian community, plans to make this an annual event to bolster tourism activity in the shoulder season. Over 400 participants attended the inaugural event and early registrations suggest the next Gran Fondo will be much larger. This type of project bodes well with the Municipality of Clare's efforts to focus on events tourism and diversify its economic base.
(3) Development of SMEs:

Le Réseau de développement économique et d'employabilité de l'1le-du-Prince- Édouard (RDÉE ÎPÉ) received financial assistance for a project targeted to young/new entrepreneurs in the Francophone and Acadian community seeking to launch or expand their business ideas. Participants took part in workshops designed to develop their entrepreneurial skills; particular emphasis was placed on helping participants develop and deliver their respective business pitches. Participants delivered their pitches to a panel of judges in a format similar to Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Dragon's Den program. Pitch sessions included pre-selection rounds followed by the final competition between the top finishers. The winning entrepreneur received an investment in their company. RDÉE lPE continues to deliver business mentorship services to the top four finalists. The goal was to support the establishment of four new businesses in PEI's Francophone and Acadian community. The winning company was able to use the new investment to successfully access a new loan through the provincial government to continue with its expansion plans.
Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev)

Community Economic Development

Official-language minority communities
Economic Development Initiative (EDI) $4,450,000 $1,074,050 $1,090,818

OLMCs have access to economic opportunities to help build strong communities:
Number of businesses and organizations supported as a result of Economic Development Initiative funding: 230
Number of partnerships established as a result of Economic Development Initiative funding: 9

Funds leveraged against FedDev Ontario contributions: $740,000
In 2015-16, FedDev Ontario delivered projects to improve access to business and entrepreneurship services and training, increase access to capital, and support applied research partnerships for new and existing Francophone entrepreneurs. In addition, an internship project supported the employment of Francophone youth, enabling them to gain valuable work experience while providing small and medium enterprises and Francophone community organizations access to educated, skilled workers. As a result of the EDI funding being strategically allocated by FedDev Ontario, the collaboration between the various stakeholders has now been established and makes it possible to have an impact that is more regional than local.
Western Economic Diversification Canada (WED)

Business Development and Innovation

Community Economic Growth
Economic Development Initiative (EDI) $3,200,000

$740,000

$710,465

Number of new projects: 2
Number of new partnerships: 4

Leveraging percentage: 30%
WD approved six EDI projects in 2015-16.  These projects are now starting to show immediate results for 2015-16 and will assist Francophone OLMC vitality by providing enhanced Francophone tourism experiences, expanded skills and training capabilities for Francophones, enriched OLMC organizational and community capacity, and heightened Francophone business community capacity through new efficiencies and collaboration opportunities.
Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor)

Economic Development

Community Development
Economic Development Initiative (EDI) $400,000 $80,000 $80,000 Based on initial discussion, a pan-territorial project for the recruitment and retention of a bilingual, skilled workforce for the North is expected by CanNor. The Association franco-yukonnaise (AFY) received EDI funding of $240,000 over three years for the Workers’ Bilingual Recruitment and Retention project. In partnership with the Conseil de développement économique des Territoires du Nord-Ouest (CDETNO) et Carrefour Nunavut, the project is to identify intervention strategies to better attract and retain bilingual Francophones in Canada’s North to fill gaps in sectors with a shortfall of workers and to implement targeted and effective recruitment campaigns.
Total $1,124,037,385 $228,106,015 $220,079,744

* The Government of Canada, through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, is investing $29.4 million for the initiative "Immigration to OLMCs” as part of the Roadmap 2013-18. There is a variance of $100,000 between the funding amount for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada originally announced in the public document of the Roadmap 2013-18 in March 2013 and the amount listed. This change reflects a budget review and will not affect Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s ability to deliver services to OLMCs, as per the Roadmap 2013-18. Similar results are expected to be achieved.

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