OLLO – Summary Report – Standing Senate Committee On Official Languages – February 6, 2023

Date and time: March 28, 2022 / 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Videoconference (hybrid and in-person and zoom)

Report prepared by:
Mélodie Terracol, Cabinet and Parliamentary Affairs
Canadian Heritage
melodie.terracol@pch.gc.ca

Committee Members:

René Cormier (ISG) (Chair)
Bernadette Clement (ISG)
Marie-Françoise Mégie (ISG)
Lucie Moncion (ISG)
Percy Mockler (C)
Rose-May Poirier (C)
Jean-Guy Dagenais (CSG)
Pierre J. Dalphond (PSG)
Raymonde Gagné (Non-affiliated)

Subject:

Study matters relating to Francophone immigration to minority communities

Panel 1

Witnesses

As an individual

• Jean-Pierre Corbeil, Adjunct Professor, Department of Sociology, Laval University
• Christophe Traisnel, Professor of Political Science, Arts and Social Sciences Faculty, Université de Moncton
• Leyla Sall, Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology and Criminology, Université de Moncton

Statistics Canada

• Laurent Martel, Director, Centre for Demography
• Eric Caron Malenfant, Assistant Director, Centre for Demography

Summary:

Jean-Pierre Corbeil, Adjunct Professor, Department of Sociology, Laval University

• The importance of considering the unequal capacity of official language minority communities to attract and retain immigrants in general
• The national target has never been reached
• The issue of immigrant selection criteria
• Certain challenges and issues related to Bill C-13 and immigration

Christophe Traisnel, Professor of Political Science, Arts and Social Sciences Faculty, Université de Moncton

• Research conducted with his teams on Francophone immigration to Canada
• 3 aspirations: Personal migratory plan, economic planning of governments, concerns of Francophone Acadian communities for their own vitality
• Several solutions proposed by the research

Leyla Sall, Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology and Criminology, Université de Moncton

• The priority is to expand minority communities that are facing demographic and linguistic challenges
• Challenges in admitting and integrating immigrants within minority communities; challenges due to social characteristics and societal trajectories
• Antiracism policies needed, particularly in the workplace

Rose-May Poirier (C)

• Mr. Corbeil, what mechanisms should be put in place to improve Francophone immigration and what should the government do to improve it?
  • The issue is to properly understand why immigrants seem to prefer Europe and the United States over Canada. Why the government has not met the target and the information is not available.
  • Mr. Sall: Immigration procedures are more complicated in Canada than in Europe and education costs are higher.
  • Mr. Traisnel: Effort should be made to refine relations with education pools and to promote the Francophone community.

Jean-Guy Dagenais (CSG)

• Mr. Corbeil, have any analyses been conducted on the impact social media has had on the interest or lack of interest among Canadians and immigrants in learning and using French?
  • There is little information at the moment about the influence of social media.
  • We see that, in general, most immigrants who arrive outside Quebec arrive as adults, so it is harder to learn an official language.
• Do you think that C-13 protects more than the fundamental and constitutional rights of Francophone minorities, particularly outside Quebec? Does it contain elements to promote the use of French outside recognized Francophone communities?
  • One million Francophone youth are enrolled in an immersion program in Canada. However, the issue is retention.
  • Raise awareness about the importance of using both official languages and promote retention.

Raymonde Gagné (Non-affiliated)

• Who should be the conductor? Particularly in terms of economic development. If you’re able to comment on C-13, how can we establish the organizational basis of a Francophone immigration policy?
  • Mr. Sall: Shared responsibility between the federal government and Francophone organizations focusing on Francophone immigration outside Quebec.
  • Mr. Traisnel: The federal government is the sole conductor in meeting targets with more capacity for action than community organizations and Francophones minority communities.

Marie-Françoise Mégie (ISG)

• 33% of Francophone immigrant teachers – why is it not possible to choose other fields where people will work in the language of work?
  • Mr. Sall: 33% is an example that I gave for education, but it can be extended to other fields, particularly in the field of labour.
• Is there anything in C-13 that would help us move forward in integrating Francophone immigrants in the workplace?
  • Mr. Sall: Not right now, but there should be.
  • Mr. Corbeil: The importance of governance – the issue of employer awareness.

Pierre J. Dalphond (PSG)

• Recruitment and retention challenges. Are there any studies that show that Francophone students who come to study in Canada try to stay in Canada afterwards? Is there a lot of interprovincial mobility or will people generally move to major centres?
  • Mr. Corbeil: There is data on interprovincial migration and French-language immigration.
  • Mr. Traisnel: A study is coming.

Bernadette Clement (ISG)

• The challenge is to attract people to Cornwall, but above all, retain them. What is the municipality’s role and how can cooperation be improved between the various levels of government?
  • Mr. Traisnel: Municipalities have a crucial and strategic role to play.
  • Mr. Sall: Housing and transportation services are key.

Lucie Moncion (ISG)

• C-13: In the policy that includes objectives, targets and indicators. What do you recommend including in that policy in addition to than targets?
  • Mr. Corbeil: Immigration should not be viewed as a silo. Immigration as an asset for communities. IRCC should play a greater role and have a better partnership with the other departments.
  • Mr. Traisnel: Access to information and access to information about information.

Percy Mockler (C)

• Quebec plays an important role for Atlantic Canada and Acadia and for Francophones outside Quebec. Update the 1991 Canada–Québec Accord relating to Immigration and Temporary Admission of Aliens to promote Francophone immigration to Canada? That being said, what impact has the accord had on the development and vitality of Francophone communities outside Quebec? And how can we reconcile Quebec’s objectives for maintaining its Francophone character with Canada’s objectives for maintaining the demographic weight of Francophones outside Québec?

Panel 2

Witnesses

Statistics Canada

• Laurent Martel, Director, Centre for Demography
• Eric Caron Malenfant, Assistant Director, Centre for Demography

Summary:

Laurent Martel, Director, Centre for Demography

• Announcement on August 17 – updated picture of linguistic diversity based on new data from the 2021 Census. Immigration data will follow on October 26. And on November 30, the results on languages of work and data on children eligible for education in the minority official language under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms will be released.
• New data coming on the Survey on the Official Language Minority Population.
• Between 2001 and 2016, a decline in the demographic weight of the French-speaking population in Canada outside Quebec. The reasons are as follows: The natural components of population renewal; language transitions that happen between parents and their children and over a lifetime for individuals.
• Migration plays an increasingly important role in the demographic dynamic of minority Francophone populations in Canada.
• Migration = international immigration and migratory between regions in Canada.

Rose-May Poirier (C)

• In your experience, does the government need to improve its data collection on Francophone immigration in order to improve Francophone immigration policies? If so, what data do you feel would be useful in increasing Francophone immigration to minority communities?
  • There is a lot of data available, and more data and surveys are being added.
• If you think the current data is enough to meet requirements, why are we unable to meet the targets?
• What federal and provincial factors led to the failure to meet the 4.4% target?

René Cormier (ISG)

• Does your data allow you to identify the different categories of immigrants who come to Canada?
  • There are four major categories.

Jean-Guy Dagenais (CSG)

• If Statistics Canada had more resources, would you be able to dig deeper into the profile of immigrants who actually use French at home and at work?
  • We have the data to do that, so it would be possible to work with that.
• Does the research provide information on the number of French-speaking Canadians and immigrants who have put their language on hold to access jobs, particularly higher-level jobs in major corporations in Canada?
  • Yes.
• Do you know what proportion of Francophones obtain a job for which bilingualism is required? It is important to know the real requirement to speak English.
  • I do not know the proportion; we do not have the number of hours spent using another language at work.

Raymonde Gagné (Non-affiliated)

• What is the definition of a French-speaking immigrant?
  • An immigrant’s status and the variable for the first official language spoken.
• Has the definition used by the federal government changed over time?
  • The criteria for the first language spoken have remained the same.
• Has the definition had an impact on meeting the 4.4% target?
• Can you comment on the transmission of French to the children of French-speaking immigrant couples outside Quebec and how it compares to the children of Francophone parents?
  • We would need to check for French-speaking immigrants.

Marie-Françoise Mégie (ISG)

• What composition should be chosen?
• In the census, in 2011, the Conservative government made the long-form census voluntary and the forms then became shorter. Do you think that would have an impact on your demographic projections? Did the pandemic affect your projections?
  • There was no impact from the Conservative government’s decision. As for the pandemic, its consequences will show over the longer term. The census can capture the impacts of the pandemic in other situations. The pandemic will affect projections, but we will take those effects into consideration.

Bernadette Clement (ISG)

• Are there any regions in particular that did better in terms of increasing the size of their Francophone population? Could the data explain why they did better?
  • Yes. There are some regions where the demographic weight did not decrease.
• I am interested in the dynamics of smaller centres, which have a harder time attracting and retaining Francophone immigrants. Did your specific regional data help to shape the government’s policy that was announced in February 2022?
  • We work very closely with a large number of federal departments to support them in their decision-making. We also contribute to IRCC’s development of Canadian immigration plans.

Pierre J. Dalphond (PSG)

• Do your instruments allow you to measure the use of French at home in minority communities by Francophone immigrants whose mother tongue is French? Do we see the same language transfer to English?
  • We will check and follow up with you.
• Do immigrants whose mother tongue is French choose to send their children to French or English schools in a minority community in the same proportion?

Percy Mockler (C)

• Should the federal government increase or review its collaboration with provincial and territorial governments on immigration?
  • In carrying out its mandate, Statistics Canada already works with several provinces and territories.
• What concrete form should be taken by the federal government’s commitment to supporting immigration as a key community development sector with immigration in Bill C‑13?