Question Period Note - Settlement And Integration In Francophone Minority Communities

Date: Sept. 8, 2023

Classification: Unclassified

Department: IRCC-FIB

Issue:

What are the measures/initiatives taken by IRCC to facilitate the settlement and integration of newcomers in Francophone minority communities?

Proposed Response:

• The federal government is committed to supporting the vitality of Francophone minority communities (outside Quebec). It has therefore made the Francophone integration pathway one of its priorities.
• In 2022-2023, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has invested approximately $72M to consolidate the Francophone Integration Pathway (FIP), a suite of settlement and resettlement services in French, delivered by Francophone communities.
• Additional investments of $50M will be made as part of the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023-2028 to further strengthen the reception capacities of Francophone minority communities. This investment will make it possible to continue various initiatives such as the Welcoming Francophone Communities Initiative and to implement new measures, such as a strategy to better support French-speaking newcomer women.

Contact:
Alain Desruisseaux
Director General, Francophone Immigration Branch, SIS
Tel. No.: 613-219-4032

Approved By:
Catherine Scott
Assistant Deputy Minister, Settlement and Integration Sector
Tel. No.: 613-437- 9196

Background:

Settlement Services for Newcomers in Canada

Under the Terms and Conditions of IRCC’s Settlement Program, all permanent residents (including resettled refugees and other protected persons) are eligible to receive settlement services in English or French, including the principal applicants and members of their families, until they become Canadian citizens.

Temporary residents, asylum seekers and Canadian citizens are not eligible for federally-funded settlement services. However, in the context of certain immigration initiatives, such as the Atlantic Immigration Program and the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, select supports are available to temporary residents.

Federally-funded settlement services are delivered in English or French by more than 550 third-party service provider organizations across Canada (excluding Quebec, where services are determined by the Canada-Quebec Accord) to help newcomers prepare for life in Canada and successfully integrate. This includes close to 80 Francophone service providers, which support French-speaking newcomers’ integration into Francophone-minority communities.

Through these organizations, newcomers can access the following federally-funded settlement services in English or French:

• Needs and assets assessments and referrals: This service includes a review of the client’s settlement needs along with their strengths (skills, life experiences and abilities), resulting in a personalized settlement plan with referrals to IRCC-funded and community services to support the client’s settlement journey.
• Information and orientation: This service includes one-on-one, family and group information sessions on topics such as health-care, employment, education, filing taxes and banking; this service is available both pre- and post-arrival to Canada.
• Language training: Formal language training, known in English as Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada, or Cours de langue pour les immigrants au Canada in French, helps newcomers improve and acquire the official language skills they need to contribute to the Canadian economy and to integrate into their communities.
• Employment-related services: These services help newcomers with job search and preparation for the labour market. This includes résumé writing and interview techniques, as well as mentoring and bridging programs to connect employers and immigrants.
• Community connections: These services build social cohesion and allow newcomers to develop a sense of belonging. Activities include Settlement Workers in Schools, Conversation Circles, and Canada Connects.
• Support services: Additional supports are available to newcomers in order to encourage uptake and remove barriers to accessing settlement services. These supports are free of charge and are available to all clients who need child care, transportation, translation, interpretation, short-term counselling and provision of services for newcomers with disabilities in order to help them access federally-funded settlement services.

Francophone Integration Pathway

IRCC has implemented the Francophone Integration Pathway through measures and initiatives built around the following pillars:

• Improved Francophone settlement services – fund the development and delivery of a suite of high quality settlement services in French (Information & Orientation, Employment-related services, Languages training, etc.);
• Welcoming Francophone communities – invest in the 14 host communities so they can welcome newcomers and facilitate the creation of lasting ties with the Francophone communities;
• Strengthened capacity of the Francophone Settlement Sector - equip Francophone service providers with tools and best practices, and increase collaboration amongst the Settlement Sector.

Since 2018, several achievements have been made to help Francophone Minority Communities better attract, welcome and integrate newcomers. These include:

• Increased funding allocated to Francophone communities: from $53M in 2020-2021 to $61M in 2021-2022, and to $72M in allocated funds in 2022-2023.
• Increased number of Francophone service providers funded (from 50 in 2019 to nearly 80 in 2022), resulting in better coverage of core services across the country (outside of Quebec).
• The adoption of a “By and for Francophone” approach within IRCC’s Settlement Program, made possible by measures such as the inclusion of four new requirements in support of the FIP in all contribution agreements to increase the referral of French-speaking clients to resources and services offered by Francophone organizations.
• New projects that integrate a Gender-based Analysis Plus lens to address specific populations’ distinct needs such as specialized services for women (La Maison des femmes in Toronto) and other marginalized groups, including for newcomers that identify as part of the 2ELGBTQI+ community (FrancoQueer).  
• A single window for pre-arrival services (Connexions Francophones) has been established to offer services to French-speaking individuals who have been selected to become permanent residents.
• 14 communities and cities across the country (outside of Quebec) are piloting a community-based initiative called the Welcoming Francophone communities (WFCs) initiative with the aim of creating an environment in which newcomers will feel welcome. Between the beginning of the Initiative (in 2020) and March 31, 2023, 4944 French-speaking newcomers have settled in the Welcoming Communities.
• The WFCs Initiative has mobilized a wide range of community players, fostering significant multi-sectoral impact at local level. This has resulted in significant achievements and actions, including among others:
  • The multiplication of initiatives promoting employment and entrepreneurship among Francophone newcomers (e.g. job fairs, entrepreneurship workshops, mobilization of employers):
    • In Sudbury, a job fair was organized last year (2022) to raise employers’ awareness of the pool of newcomer job seekers, which help them meet their labour needs (23 employers were mobilized with nearly 445 job seekers, the majority of whom were Francophone newcomers).
    • Élan F (business creation program) is a flagship project associated with the Hamilton CFA and aims to provide a structure for the entrepreneurial ambitions and projects of francophone newcomers in the Hamilton area. Since its launch in 2020, this pre-incubation program has enabled francophone and bilingual newcomers wishing to launch and develop their business to go from a feasibility study to their first sale of goods or services, by offering them training, personalized coaching, workshops, networking activities and mentorship.
    • In Moose-Jaw-Gravelbourg, a unique job fair raised newcomers' awareness of the province's rural communities.
  • Greater awareness of newcomers' needs: thanks to the WFCs initiative, municipalities such as Hamilton, Sudbury, Hawkesbury, Haut-Saint-Jean (NB), Clare (NE) and Rivière-Seine (MB) have openly declared their support for Francophone immigration.
  • Creating the right conditions to attract, welcome and retain newcomers. In 2022-23, one hundred families settled in Hawkesbury, thanks to the various actions taken by the CFA (particularly in terms of promotion and strengthened service offering).
  • The creation of the Université Populaire (associated with the Moose Jaw-Gravelbourg CFA): this offers free two-hour educational workshops in French, open to all eligible clients (in "Ted Talks" format).
• Since June 2023, a series of targeted consultations with key stakeholders has been launched in order to take stock of the outcomes thus far and discuss the parameters for the renewal of the WFCs Initiative. 
• Eight national projects are funded to strengthen the capacity of the Francophone settlement sector in areas such as mental health, justice, employer engagement, as well as targeted support for seniors, women and families.
• Service hubs (“Carrefour de services”) and partnerships have been established in several main cities (e.g.: Edmonton, Regina, Sudbury, etc.) to ensure that newcomers can have access to core settlement services offered by a Francophone organization, including the evaluation of their needs and assets, referrals, information and orientation.
• More services provided through a hybrid delivery mode (in person, virtually, in itinerancy) which increases service accessibility in smaller and rural communities.
• Seven service providers are currently funded to deliver English and/or French language training services specifically adapted to the needs of French-speaking and allophone newcomers settling in Francophone minority communities. These services began in 2019 with funding from the 2018-2023 Action Plan for Official Languages. Client counts have been climbing steadily since the program was created as service providers continued to offer flexible courses that suited the schedules of their target clients. In fiscal year 2022-2023, 595 unique clients received training through this program, exceeding the target of 500.

Call for Proposals 2024

IRCC is launching the Call for Proposals 2024 funding process, before the end of fiscal year 2023-2024.

The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that newcomers arriving under continued and ambitious growth in immigration levels have the supports and services needed to meet their resettlement and settlement needs, make the most of their experience, and succeed in fully integrating and contributing to the Canadian economy and to their communities.

The National Call for Proposals process is designed to be a fair, effective and transparent competitive funding process that maximizes the efficiency and effectiveness of integration services for newcomers to Canada.

Our intent remains to have agreements in place for both the Settlement and Resettlement Assistance programs by April 1, 2025.

Currently (September 2023), IRCC is preparing to further strengthen the ‘by and for’ Francophone programming in the next funding cycle (2025-2030) by having a strong Francophone lens throughout the upcoming national 2024 Call for Proposals. For the first time, there will be a separate stream for the Francophone Integration pathway as well as separate webinars to support and help Francophone organizations identify funding opportunities.

If pressed

• In 2020, IRCC launched and funded the Comité consultatif national en établissement francophone (CCNEF) with a mandate to provide recommendations to the Department for a better support to the Francophone settlement sector, particularly Francophone direct service providers.
• After three years of work and engagement with key stakeholders in the sector, the CCNEF submitted its final report and recommendations to the Department in June 2023, which we welcome.
• The Department acknowledges the broad commitment that led to these recommendations, which aim, among other things, to address the lack of support for direct service providers, a gap identified by the entire Francophone sector.
• With regard to CCNEF's recommendation for the creation of a Centre of Excellence in Francophone Settlement, I understand that the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada (FCFA) would advocate a governance approach distinct from that recommended by CCNEF. We are counting on the CCNEF and the FCFA to continue a dialogue to come to agreement on a concerted approach that will ensure the coherence of the Francophone immigration ecosystem.