Question Period Note: Federal contribution to support French and English-speaking communities in Quebec

An article published on November 27, 2023 reports the Bloc Québécois official languages spokesperson suggesting that the federal government has invested $2 billion to support English in Quebec since 1995, despite the decline of French in that province and the country.

• Our government is committed to preserving and promoting the French language across the country, including in Quebec, while protecting the rights of linguistic minorities, which includes Quebec's English-speaking communities.
• Our Action Plan for Official Languages includes a historic investment of $4.1 billion over five years, with the vast majority of initiatives contributing to Francophones. The 2023-2028 Action Plan includes an enhancement of up to $50 million for francization activities specifically in Quebec.
• In addition to the Action Plan, many federal investments have a major impact on the vitality of the French language in Quebec. These include major cultural institutions such as Radio-Canada, Telefilm Canada, the National Film Board and the Canada Council for the Arts, which continue to play a vital role in promoting the French language and francophone culture across the country, including Quebec.

• On November 27, 2023, the Bloc Québécois official languages critic presented a study paper Quand la politique linguistique fédérale conduit à financer l’anglicisation du Québec. According to the author, "the federal government is contributing to the decline of French in Quebec at a time when everyone recognizes that there is a decline and Quebecers are increasingly concerned." This comment is based on his belief that the federal government is investing $2 billion to support the vitality of English in Quebec.
• The Official Languages Act includes a commitment by the federal government to ensure the promotion and protection of French, while supporting the vitality of official language minority communities, including English-speaking communities in Quebec. The federal government has recognized the decline of French, including in Quebec, and has taken legislative and administrative measures in response.
• The modernized Official Languages Act contains a series of new legislative measures to benefit French-speaking Canadians, and recognizes the predominant use of the English language in Canada and North America, and therefore the need to protect and promote the French language.
• The Action Plan for Official Languages 2023-2028, released on April 26, provides $1.4 billion in new funding, for a historic total of $4.1 billion over 5 years. This investment will be divided between 33 new or enhanced initiatives to be implemented as quickly as possible.
• Various initiatives in the Action Plan will benefit the Quebec Francophonie, the Canadian Francophonie as a whole, and the French language in general. These include:
o strengthening federal support for the Ministers’ Council on the Canadian Francophonie in its role and mandate of promoting the Francophonie in Canada, and supporting the creation and dissemination of scientific information in French.
o the creation of a new Youth Initiative Fund, which will offer young Francophones and Francophiles - including Francophones in Quebec - opportunities to learn, share and experience things that will strengthen their sense of belonging to the French language and increase their desire to participate actively in the development of the French language and culture.
o The Media Internships initiative under the 2018-2023 Action Plan, which will be extended to the arts, culture and heritage sectors, is another initiative that could benefit Quebec francophones.
o Finally, it should be noted that federal support for French in Quebec includes additional investments in teaching French as a second language. Funding to support the recruitment and retention of teachers for French-second-language programs is also available to support French in Quebec.
• Although it is not possible at this point to identify the exact nature of the projects to be funded, several envelopes are designed to specifically support official language learning in Canada. Thanks to the Action Plan's new investments, an additional amount of up to $50 million over 5 years could be available for French-language activities - and francization - in Quebec.
• Canadian Heritage's Official Languages Support Programs provide Quebec (government and community organizations) with an average of more than $85 million a year to promote the French language and living together between the province's Francophones and Anglophones, for a total of $607 million since 2015. Last year (2022-2023), these programs invested $10 million in majority-language education, French immersion and second-language learning for English-speaking youth.
• Since the first Action Plan for Official Languages, from 2003 to 2008, an analysis of the results shows that from one funding cycle to the next, around 20% of the envelopes specifically earmarked to support official language minority communities are usually invested in projects supporting Quebec's English-speaking communities. Since 2015, this amount has represented just over $600 million for initiatives aimed at Quebec, out of a total of $3.3 billion for all of Canada.
• It is expected that this proportion will be maintained during the Action Plan for Official Languages 2023-2028 cycle. To confirm the latter, it will be necessary to complete negotiations with provincial and territorial governments on education and services and, ultimately, to see which projects have been approved.

None