Question Period Note: Francophone Immigration

The supplementary mandate letter of the Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages from January 15, 2021, states the following commitment: "Support the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to continue supporting French-language training for new Canadians, while respecting provincial jurisdiction and complementing existing measure".

• Francophone immigration is essential to the vitality and development of Francophone minority communities across the country.
• To ensure the integration and success of French-speaking newcomers, initiatives are being implemented through the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Action Plan for Increasing Francophone Immigration Outside Quebec as well as the Action Plan for Official Languages 2018-2023.
• We are actively collaborating with the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship for immigration to implement new initiatives that aim to contribute to the demographic renewal of official language minority communities throughout Canada.

• Changes proposed in the reform document, entitled English and French: Towards Substantive Equality of Official Languages in Canada (February 2021), include administrative measures to address labour market shortages of French teachers, including:
o That the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC) set up a new Francophone immigration corridor specifically aimed at recruiting Francophone and French-language teachers—for immersion and teaching of second language programs, and for French-language education.
o That the government develop, with the provincial and territorial governments, a framework for the recognition of diplomas in teaching French immersion, French as a second language and teachers of French as a first language that can be applied across the country.
• On June 15, 2021, the Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, tabled Bill C-32, An Act to amend the Official Languages Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other laws. The purpose of this bill was to initiate changes to the text of the OLA, according to the government’s vision communicated in the reform document.
• Bill C-32, which died on the Order Paper on August 15, 2021, contained:
o An obligation for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to adopt a Francophone immigration policy to support the vitality of Canada’s OLMCs outside Quebec.
o A commitment to support key sectors for the vitality of OLMCs, including immigration, and to protect and promote the presence of strong institutions for OLMCs in collaboration with the provinces and territories.
• The Federal/Provincial/Territorial Action Plan for Increasing Francophone Immigration Outside of Quebec, endorsed by both FPT Immigration and Francophone Affairs Ministers in 2018 has been instrumental in guiding IRCC’s work with PTs.
• IRCC has legally binding bilateral immigration agreements in place with provinces that include a commitment to supporting official language minority communities (OLMCs). These agreements could also be used to advance Francophone migration.
• IRCC negotiated annexes to these bilateral agreements with New Brunswick (2017) and Ontario (2018) to strengthen cooperation in support of Francophone immigration. IRCC hopes to soon work with PT colleagues to negotiate annexes with other jurisdictions to advance these common objectives.
• Under the terms and conditions of IRCC’s Settlement Program, all permanent residents (including resettled refugees and protected persons) are eligible to receive settlement services, including the principal applicants and members of their families, up to the point of citizenship. To access language training, persons must be of legal school-leaving age within their applicable province or territory.
• The Settlement Program is delivered by more than 500 service provider organizations (SPOs). This includes 80 Francophone service providers, which support French-speaking newcomers’ integration into Francophone Minority Communities. Despite the pandemic environment, in 2020-21, the Settlement Program was able to successfully facilitate access to at least one direct settlement service to over 378,000 newcomers to Canada from over 500 organizations funded by IRCC. In 2020-2021, 7282 French-speaking clients accessed at least one settlement service offered by a Francophone service provider, representing 57% of French-speaking newcomers who received at least one settlement service. In 2019-2020, this percentage was 51%.
• There are several programs and initiatives to help integrate newcomers such as those in the 2018-2023 Official Languages Action Plan as well as, among others, the Francophone Integration Pathway, consolidated by IRCC, which aims to strengthen the settlement and resettlement services offered to Francophone newcomers by Francophone organizations ("by and for") - from pre-arrival to citizenship - and to make newcomers of all linguistic backgrounds aware of these services.

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