Question Period Note: Post-secondary institutions serving Francophone minority communities

The mandate letter of the Minister of Official Languages states the following commitment: "Increase funding for post-secondary institutions in official language minority communities and support the maintenance and vitality of official language minority communities by helping to build, renovate and develop educational and community spaces serving them".

• In Budget 2021, the Government of Canada announced new investments of $121.3 million over three years starting in 2021-2022 to support high-quality post-secondary education in the minority official language across Canada.
• The Government is committed to working with provinces and territories to provide increased support for post-secondary institutions in official language minority communities.
• Post-secondary institutions serving Francophone minority communities are essential to the vitality and development of Francophone communities across the country.

• The mandate letter of the Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages from December 16, 2021, states the following commitment: " Increase funding for post-secondary institutions in official language minority communities and support the maintenance and vitality of official language minority communities by helping to build, renovate and develop educational and community spaces serving them".
• In the context of the 2021 federal election, the Liberal Party of Canada committed to permanently increasing funding for post-secondary institutions in official language minority communities to $80 million per year starting in 2022-2023.
• This would be in addition to the new investments announced in Budget 2021 ($121.3 million over three years to provide high-quality post-secondary education in the minority language).
• Minority-language post-secondary institutions, particularly those serving Francophone communities outside of Quebec, face distinct challenges in making quality education available. Many post-secondary institutions have reported important financial challenges: Campus Saint Jean at the University of Alberta, Laurentian University in Ontario, the Université de Moncton in New Brunswick and Collège Éducacentre in British Columbia.
• On April 19, 2021, the minister of Economic Development and Official Languages expressed concerns in the House of Commons over the situation at Laurentian University. The minister further stated having contacted the Government of Ontario to find solutions together and ensure the people of Sudbury and Northern Ontario have access to post-secondary education in French.
• Education is an area of provincial and territorial jurisdiction. The provincial and territorial governments are responsible for establishing plans, determining the objectives and priorities, and defining the contents for their programs in education. The Government of Canada supports provinces and territories in making minority-language post-secondary education available through bilateral agreements.
• The “Protocol for Agreements for Minority-Language Education and Second-Language Instruction 2019-2020 to 2022-2023” between the Government of Canada and the Provinces and Territories was signed by all parties in February 2020. This multilateral framework sets the key parameters for collaboration between the two orders of government on official languages in education and provides a mechanism through which the Government of Canada contributes to the costs incurred by the provinces and territories in the delivery of minority-language education and second official language instruction.
o While it shares the main objectives of the Protocol in education, the Government of Quebec is not a signatory to it.
o 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.
• Under the bilateral education agreements, the Government of Canada already contributes $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). Budget 2019 announced an additional $15 million per year from 2019-2020 to 2022-2023 to increase support for minority language education.

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