Building my life in French in Canada: Laura’s Story

Every year, thousands of Francophones immigrate to Canada and settle in French speaking communities outside Quebec. Throughout their journey, many Francophones organizations across Canada support and encourage them in planning their new life.

Transcript: Building my life in French in Canada: Laura’s Story

Video length: 1 minutes, 24 seconds

Lively music is heard in the background. A black sign with the same music in the background. The displayed text says: “Every year, thousands of Francophones immigrate to Canada and settle in French‑speaking communities outside Quebec. Throughout their journey, many Francophones organizations across Canada support and encourage them in planning their new life.

Here is a testimonial from one of them. ”

We see a young woman walking on the sidewalk in our direction. It’s winter and we can hear the sounds of traffic. The young woman speaks directly to the camera, with a smile. A title states: “Laura Huynh Lê, native of Belgium.”

Laura Huynh Lê: My name is Laura Huynh Lê. I am a native of Belgium and now I am in Halifax.

Now we see the young woman walking outside. She enters a building, takes the elevator, exits and walks along a corridor to a door with a sign reading: “Le Conseil de développement économique de la Nouvelle-Écosse”.

Laura Huynh Lê: Coming here I encountered various difficulties. The biggest one was being able to compete with Anglophones in the job market. To find a job I had to turn to certain French-language services.

The young woman is greeted by a man. They introduce themselves and shake hands. He invites her to follow him into a meeting room.

employee from conseil de développement économique de la nouvelle-écosse: Hello, how are you?

Laura Huynh Lê: Hello.

employee from conseil de développement économique de la nouvelle-écosse: My name is Bruno, delighted to meet you.

Laura Huynh Lê: Likewise.

We see them next in the meeting room. Laura takes off her coat and toque. She sits with a pen in her hand. The man gives her brochures and explains them to her. We can see Laura’s résumé on a table in front of them. The man then explains something to Laura about her résumé. She takes notes on a pad of paper. She listens and nods, indicating that she understands. Then Laura speaks to the camera again.

Laura Huynh Lê: I was able to speak in my native language about my problems, and really communicate and receive all information to my full potential. They really helped me understand how to develop my résumé. I also went through a hiring interview simulation, to show me the kind of questions that are going to be asked. That really gave me the self-confidence to apply, to believe I was prepared to face a Canadian employer.

We’re back in the conference room. Laura and the man stand up at the same time and shake hands. The interview is over. Laura says thank you and, smiling, addresses the camera once more.

Laura Huynh Lê: Of course, the prospect of entering the job market was a little scary all the same, but I wanted to meet the challenge, and I succeeded here. 

The image changes to show the graphic: “Building my life in French in Canada” with the text: “For more information about settlement services in French, visit canada.ca/francoimmigration”. We see the brand image of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

The music stops. We see the signature of the Government of Canada, the Canadian flag flying on a white background.