Question Period Note: Funding of the Campus Saint-Jean in Edmonton

Budget cuts to postsecondary education in Alberta will have important impacts on the Campus Saint-Jean of the University of Alberta, the only French language postsecondary institution in Alberta

• Postsecondary institutions play an important role in the vitality and development of official language minority communities.
• It is important to protect the Campus Saint-Jean, which provides francophones and francophiles in Alberta with access to postsecondary education in the language of the francophone minority.
• We are continuing our discussions with our counterparts in the Government of Alberta to ensure support for this valuable Franco-Albertan institution.

• Campus Saint-Jean offers college and university programs in French to more than 800 students, as well as French language courses to the general public
• As part of its 2020 Budget, the Government of Alberta announced a significant restructuring of its funding to the post-secondary sector, including cuts in funding of 20% to post-secondary institutions over the next three years.
• For its part, the University of Alberta (which includes Campus Saint-Jean) is facing an 11% decrease in funding from the Government of Alberta for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. Additional cuts are planned for 2021 and 2022.
• In May 2020, the Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages held a meeting with the Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta (ACFA) and another meeting with Ministers Aheer and Nicolaides of the Government of Alberta to discuss the financial issues facing Campus Saint-Jean.
• In July 2020, the ACFA sent a memo to the University of Alberta, in an effort to bring about a change of governance to enable Campus Saint-Jean to have more independence, specifically regarding its budget, while remaining affiliated to the University of Alberta.
• On August 17, 2020, the ACFA announced legal action against the Government of Alberta and the University of Alberta, referencing a 1976 contractual agreement in which the Province and the University committed to operate, maintain, improve and develop Campus programming, and section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms pertaining to minority language educational rights.
• On October 27, 2020, Minister Joly forwarded a letter to the Premier of Alberta, the Honorable Jason Kenney. In her letter, she asks the Government of Alberta to review its decision to reduce funding for Campus Saint-Jean, reiterates the importance of finding lasting solutions to restore and increase the institution’s services as well as its long-term sustainability and funding. She also mentions that she continues to be available to evaluate the various possibilities for financial support by the federal and provincial governments.
• Under the Official Languages Act, the federal government is called upon to encourage and assist provincial and territorial governments to foster the development of official language minority communities, and in particular to provide them services (including education) in their language.
• For 40 years, the Department of Canadian Heritage and provinces and territories, in collaboration with the Council of Ministers of Education (Canada) [CMEC], have supported education in the language of the minority and second-language learning through multilateral multi-year protocol of agreement. The Protocol sets out the main parameters of collaboration agreed by government authorities.
o The present Protocol covering the period 2019-2023 was concluded in February 2020. It provides for a federal investment of $235.5 million per year to the provinces and territories: $149.1 million for minority-language education and $86.4 million for second-language instruction. An amount of $14.2 million per year is planned for Alberta.
o Of this amount, an additional $15 million per year is earmarked from 2019-2020 to 2022-2023 to increase support for minority-language education. This additional support, announced in Budget 2019, is conditional on commitments by provinces and territories to improve stakeholder consultation and transparent accountability. An amount of $1.6 million is planned for Alberta.
• Following the conclusion of the Protocol, Canadian Heritage enters into bilateral cost-shared agreements with each province and territory. These agreements include provincial and territorial action plans detailing the investment priorities of each government.
o The bilateral agreement with the Government of Alberta for 2013-2018 has been renewed for 2019-2020.
o In 2019-2020, Campus Saint-Jean received $2.4 million in funding from Canadian Heritage's Official Languages Support Programs. In addition, $3.7 million in infrastructure funding (complementary project) was provided to Alberta to support the Campus' expansion.
o Negotiations for an agreement covering the period 2020-2023 are underway.

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