Official Languages Committee on March 13th, 2012

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Welcome to the 31st sitting of the Standing Committee on Official Languages, on Tuesday, March 13, 2012. We are meeting today pursuant to Standing Order 108 to conduct a study relating to the evaluation of the Roadmap: Improving Programs and Service Delivery.

Before turning the floor over to our witnesses, I would like to say that the committee has consented to deal with the subamendment and the amendment submitted to the committee. The motion pertaining to the budget will be dealt with in the second part of this meeting.

I believe the committee has given unanimous consent to withdrawing the subamendment and the amendment. Is that correct?

[Some hon. members]

Yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

(The subamendment and the amendment were withdrawn.)

There's a motion on the floor to adopt a budget of $63,900, moved by Mr. Godin. Is there any further debate on that motion?

Seeing none, I'll call the question.

All those in favour of the budget as proposed by Mr. Godin?

(Motion agreed to)

The budget is carried.

Thank you very much.

We've disposed of the second part of our committee orders of the day for today, so we now have a full two hours to hear from the four witnesses in front of us.

With us today are Ms. Frenette and Mr. Aucoin from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Mr. Saint-Germain and Mr. Sylvester from the Department of Citizenship and Immigration. Welcome, everyone.

We are going to start by giving the floor to the representatives of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.

[Peter Sylvester, Associate Deputy Minister, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

Good morning, Mr. Chair, and members of the committee. Thank you for the invitation to appear before you today. My name is Peter Sylvester, and I am the Associate Deputy Minister and official languages champion of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Joining me today is Yves Saint-Germain, Director of Information, Language and Community Policy at CIC.

We are pleased to be here today to discuss CIC's activities through the funding allocated under the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality.

Canada has a long-standing tradition of immigration. Immigration has contributed and continues to contribute to the social and economic development of Canada and to its cultural enrichment, and it also benefits the country's two linguistic communities.

Under the roadmap, CIC received $20 million over five years to maintain, improve and develop immigration-related activities in official language minority communities.

In terms of anglophone minority communities, a significant factor that must be kept in mind is the 1991 Canada and Quebec agreement on immigration. CIC is exploring options for how it can best meet its obligations towards the official language minorities in Quebec while respecting commitments that exist under the Canada-Quebec Accord.

The Department is working with representatives from these communities to carry out research, including an assessment of the communities' capacity to attract newcomers and a statistical portrait of immigrants that have settled within those communities.

In terms of supporting francophone minority communities outside Quebec, CIC's approach is to increase the number of francophone immigrants settling in these communities and ensure that they obtain the support they need to integrate in French into Canadian society.

In addition to the funds allocated through the roadmap, CIC has set aside $10 million over four years from its settlement program for specific activities related to welcoming and integrating French-speaking immigrants in official language minority communities.

Concretely, CIC's funds under the roadmap are dedicated to: promotion and recruitment activities for potential French-speaking immigrants; francophone immigration networks; settlement and integration services for French-speaking immigrants outside Quebec; coordination and cooperation activities among key stakeholders; and research activities for official language minority communities.

As you know, Mr. Chair, the work we do in this area requires collaboration with many partners. CIC believes in the benefits of consulting regularly with communities in order to be in touch with the realities they face. That's why in 2002 the department created the CIC Francophone Minority Communities Steering Committee. This committee brings together representatives from federal departments and agencies, provinces and territories, and representatives of official language minority communities to foster immigration to francophone minority communities and to help these communities benefit from immigration.

You may be aware that a 2004 study by the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada noted gaps in the capacity of francophone minority communities to support the reception and integration of French-speaking immigrants.

The study identified several challenges, including a lack of recruitment capacity and means to promote francophone minority communities, as well as a lack of reception and integration services in French.

In its efforts to address these issues, in September 2006 CIC unveiled the Strategic Plan to Foster Immigration to Francophone Minority Communities.

The strategic plan was drawn up in partnership with federal departments and provincial, territorial, and community representatives through the CIC Francophone Minority Communities Steering Committee. Its objective is to provide a concerted and targeted approach to support the vitality of francophone minority communities by attracting a greater number of French-speaking immigrants to regions outside Quebec, improving the capacity of francophone minority communities to receive francophone newcomers, and facilitating the integration of the newcomers.

CIC's activities within the strategic plan were aligned with the road map, and accordingly the initial five-year period of the strategic plan, 2006-2011, was extended into 2013. Under the road map we funded the Destination Canada job fair. Destination Canada has been gaining in popularity in recent years, with extensive media coverage and attendance in Paris and Brussels reaching a record high in 2011. From almost 12,400 requests to participate, almost 2,700 pre-selected candidates participated in this year's eighth edition of the fair. More than 300 separate job profiles were posted on the event website by 110 different employers or their authorized representatives. An informal survey conducted at the end of the fair indicated that approximately 150 contracts were signed and another 150 interviews were planned.

CIC was pleased to see that the success of Destination Canada was noted in the 2010-2011 Annual Report of the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.

We have also strengthened francophone immigration networks, and have established 13 francophone immigration networks for French-speaking immigrants in nine provinces and two territories. In other words, we have built the capacity of communities to welcome and integrate new immigrants into the community.

These networks bring together more than 250 francophone organizations representing various sectors, including economic development, education and health.

To give you just one example of the important work these networks do, the three Ontario networks collaborated with La Toile des carrières to organize bilingual job fairs in Ottawa and Toronto. Ninety-seven employers participated in Toronto and 55 in Ottawa.

With regards to the integration services delivered to French-speaking immigrants, CIC funds 121 French points of service. These are located in 24 cities outside Quebec and are managed by francophone service providers.

Other initiatives include a full range of tools for language training in French, the provision of settlement services in French schools, workshops on employer awareness and jobs fairs, and the establishment of entrepreneurship and labour market training programs.

As mentioned earlier, Mr. Chair, one of the key objectives for the CIC within the road map is to increase the number of French-speaking immigrants to regions outside of Quebec. Quite frankly, this is our biggest challenge, but we're pleased to say that momentum has been building.

Statistics indicate that 1.5% or 3,481 permanent residents admitted to Canada outside Quebec in 2010 were French-speaking immigrants. Preliminary data from January to June 2011 show that we are on track to achieve the target of 1.8% by 2013, as we are now at 1.7% or 1,545.

CIC remains committed to meeting the target of 4.4% of French-speaking immigrants settling in francophone minority communities outside Quebec by 2023. Immigration is, after all, one of the key contributing factors to the vitality of official languages minority communities.

Moving forward, CIC is looking to promote the transition from temporary to permanent residence for francophone temporary residents through the Canadian Experience Class, or CEC. In particular, more emphasis will be placed on promoting the CEC at events such as Destination Canada.

The CEC offers many temporary foreign workers and foreign student graduates in Canada the opportunity to apply to stay as permanent residents and eventually become Canadian citizens. It helps Canada permanently retain temporary residents with Canadian skilled work experience and proficiency in English or French.

CIC is also looking toward employment-based promotion and recruitment activities, including employer outreach throughout the year to increase the number of job offers to potential French-speaking immigrants. In this regard, our department believes that community stakeholders could play a greater role by mobilizing employers through available community networks.

Before closing, I would just like to inform members of the committee that CIC has retained the services of an external consultant to conduct an evaluation of the recruitment and integration of immigrants. The evaluation is well underway and preliminary results will be taken into account in the horizontal summative evaluation currently being conducted by Canadian Heritage. CIC's final report is expected this coming June.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I would be more than happy to answer any questions that committee members may have on this topic.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Sylvester.

I will now give the floor to the representatives of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

[Denise Frenette, Vice-President, Finance and Corporate Services, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Good morning. I am pleased to appear before you today in my capacity of Vice-President, Finance and Corporate Services and Official Languages Champion for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the ACOA.

I am accompanied by my colleague Mr. Wade Aucoin, ACOA's Director General of the Community Development directorate. Together, we will endeavour to set out ACOA's active role in implementing the Economic Development Initiative under the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality, 2008-2013.

ACOA is an economic development agency whose mandate is to support Atlantic Canada's businesses and communities. The Honourable Bernard Valcourt is the Minister of State responsible for ACOA. He is also Minister of State for la Francophonie.

ACOA, like the other regional economic development agencies, manages its own budget and programs. With the exception of collaborating with Industry Canada on accountability matters specific to the Economic Development Initiative, ACOA handles its own part of the financing under the initiative.

I think it is a good idea to give you a snapshot of Atlantic Canada's official language minority community. As you know, French is the official language of Atlantic Canada's linguistic minority population.

Roughly one-third of Canada's French-speaking official language minority population resides in Atlantic Canada. Atlantic Canada's population is approximately 2.2 million people, of which 276,000 people, or 13% of the region's population, are Acadians and francophones.

The majority of Acadians and other francophones, roughly 85.5%, live in New Brunswick and reside primarily in three areas of the province: in Madawaska, in northwestern New Brunswick; the Acadian Peninsula, in northeastern New Brunswick; and the southeastern corner of New Brunswick which includes Moncton, Dieppe, Shediac and Bouctouche.

In Nova Scotia, the francophone minority is located primarily in Cape Breton in Cheticamp, Isle Madame and the regional municipality of Cape Breton; in Halifax; in the municipalities of Clare and Argyle in southwestern Nova Scotia; and in other rural communities scattered throughout the province.

Acadians and francophones on Prince Edward Island are concentrated particularly in the Evangeline region in Abram-Village, Mont-Carmel and Wellington, though they are also found in the province's two main cities, Summerside and Charlottetown.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, the majority of the francophone population live in the provincial capital of St. John's, on the Port-au-Port Peninsula in western Newfoundland, and in Labrador City.

In each of the Atlantic provinces, these communities are supported by numerous organizations which coordinate activities from education and health to economic development and business.

At ACOA, serving the region's Acadian and francophone population comes naturally. This community is part of the region's social fabric and many of ACOA's employees are themselves members of the francophone minority which the agency serves.

Now, if I may, I would like to give you a little information regarding our agency.

ACOA was created in 1987 with the mandate to create economic growth in Atlantic Canada by helping businesses to become more competitive, innovative, and productive. ACOA works in three main areas: business development, community development, and policy, advocacy, and coordination.

The geographical location of agency offices is very important. Over thirty offices are spread out over the entire Atlantic region. Its head office is in Moncton, New Brunswick and it has regional offices in each provincial capital along with local offices strategically located throughout the region.

ACOA has staff capable of serving the public in both official languages. Over half of the positions at ACOA require the knowledge of both official languages. In addition to the services provided by agency staff, ACOA has established partnerships with other federal and provincial departments and with regional organizations such as Community Business Development Corporations or CBDCs. The provision of service by these offices covers virtually the entirety of francophone communities throughout Atlantic Canada.

In carrying out its activities, ACOA endeavours to take into account the nature and the specific needs of each of the official language minority communities it serves.

ACOA has contributed greatly to the region's francophone community. Project funding comes from ACOA's Business Development Program and Innovative Communities Fund, as well as from the federal 2008-2013 official languages action plan, referred to as the roadmap.

In fact, the Commissioner of Official Languages gave ACOA an "exemplary" mark with respect to the positive measures that it has taken for the benefit of Atlantic Canada's official language minority community.

Before turning to the roadmap per se, I would like to give you a summary of the contributions to the OLMCs that the agency makes using its own programming.

Under its regular programming from 2006 to 2011, the agency invested a yearly average of $13 million in the region's official languages minorities communities. For instance, in 2010-11, ACOA contributed to several projects in support of the OLMCs' economic vitality, including foreign trade missions to promote wood and fisheries products; youth entrepreneurship initiatives; and major community infrastructure projects, including the Centre des arts de la Petite Église d'Edmundston, and the construction of a municipal centre in Shippagan.

Under the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality 2008-2013, ACOA actively partners with francophone communities in managing Economic Development Initiative or EDI projects. This initiative is delivered under the agency's Business Development Program. The EDI seeks to highlight the economic benefits of linguistic duality and the way it enhances the vitality of the official language minority communities.

The initiative's criteria seek to give particular attention to projects that bear upon entrepreneurship, innovation, diversification and the establishment of partnerships. As soon as the roadmap was announced, ACOA consulted with representatives of the region's OLMC and informed them of the initiative and how to access funding.

Under the Roadmap for Canada's Linguistic Duality, $6.2 million were earmarked for ACOA. This enabled the agency to increase its contribution to the economic development of the Acadian and francophone minority community and to highlight the economic advantages of linguistic duality.

Roughly $500,000, or 8%, of the total $6.2 million was held back to cover the cost of managing the initiative.

In total, ACOA identified $5.7 million to invest in projects under the EDI. This financing was primarily directed to non-commercial activities in order to support innovative and diversified activities and to support small and medium size businesses. Applicants were asked to submit a short project summary for assessment by the agency's official languages committee comprised of official languages coordinators from across the agency.

To date, a total of 34 projects have been approved for financing of more than $5 million. Due to leveraging from various partnerships, the total value of these projects is around $10 million.

A dedicated $10 million contribution was directed to a specific project for francophone immigration—a project carried out specifically with the Population Growth Division of the Province of New Brunswick. This initiative was in support of settlement and retention activities for francophone immigrants to New Brunswick.

Since 2010, project disbursements have increased sharply. The sum of $1.1 million was disbursed in 2010-11, a contribution of almost $2 million is forecasted for 2011-12, and a total investment of $2.2 million is set to be made in 2012-13.

The preliminary results of an external summative evaluation conducted towards the end of 2011 show that the management of the initiative and the strategies taken for delivery were sound and satisfactory.

Among the 34 projects supported by ACOA under the EDI, some are worthy of particular note: New Brunswick Translation Inc., a project to assist small and medium-sized businesses with the costs for translation of their business marketing tools; the "Pays de la Sagouine" tourism site, a project that enabled an English-language translation of an already successful French-language play, resulting in attracting a significant number of anglophone visitors to the site; the Conseil provincial des sociétés culturelles, a project involving an electronic ticket vending system, with revenues accruing to the cultural organizations represented by the vendor; and the Atlantic Canada Acadian Tourism Commission, two projects which involved the development of experiential tourism activities in five Acadian tourism venues in Atlantic Canada and the coordination of activities in each of these regions.

These are just a few examples of the support ACOA has given to the region's official language minority communities.

At ACOA, the respect for official languages is more than just an obligation; it also makes good business sense, and it makes sense to be attentive to the needs of the agency's clientele.

ACOA maintains a close relationship with the economic development stakeholders in the region's official language minority community, as witnessed by the ACOA-Réseau de développement économique et d'employabilité or RDÉE regional committee, RDÉE being the Human Resources and Skills Development-financed French-language Economic Development Network, in existence since 2006.

I truly appreciate having been given the opportunity to bring this short message to you. I would now like to hand over the discussion to my colleague Wade Aucoin, Director-General of the agency's Community Development branch. Wade plays a direct role in delivering the EDI at ACOA and he will be pleased to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you for your testimony, Ms. Frenette.

We will begin with Mr. Godin.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank all the witnesses. In seven minutes, we do not have enough time to ask all our questions. Not to be rude, but I would say that time is on your side.

ACOA has received $16.2 million. So I am going to put my questions to the ACOA representatives. Of that $16.2 million, $10 million was spent on support for francophone immigration to New Brunswick, and $6.2 million was spent on the Economic Development Initiative.

The figures provided by ACOA show that on February 27, 2012, it had spent $3,979,725 of the $10 million allocated for francophone immigration, representing about 40%. We are now in 2012. The roadmap ends in 2013.

What is the problem? I am asking you simply because the New Brunswick Commissioner of Official Languages has said we could do better when it comes to immigration. All sorts of commentary has been published on this subject. So I would like to know whether you have people, program officers, who are capable of supporting francophone immigration. Do you have the necessary expertise? Where is the problem? The roadmap ends in 2013 and only 40% of the money allocated has been spent.

[Wade Aucoin, Acting Director General, Community Developpment, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Thank you for your question.

We are aware that francophone immigration is a priority for francophone communities in New Brunswick. Several factors have contributed to this delay. The first was the initial delay in allocating funds. As you know, the funds actually became available in May 2009. That delayed things considerably for New Brunswick and for us.

The second factor we have to keep in mind is that we are talking about what are new initiatives for a whole group of communities in New Brunswick. So it took time to set up the advisory committees and resource centres, and to attract people to those centres.

We are also very concerned about the delay. Officials at ACOA have contacted the Government of New Brunswick, in person and by letter, to explain our concerns. The Government of New Brunswick assures us that new measures are going to be taken to speed up the project. At present, we want to see quarterly reports showing more convincing results.

As well, we have obtained permission from the Treasury Board Secretariat for an extension of this particular project so it can conclude at the end of March 2014. We think the work is so important and the results we have seen to date are so worthwhile that we have received permission to extend it to March 2014.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

They are giving you an extension until 2014. At the same time, you are withdrawing $15 million in funding from ACOA and you say that this will not disrupt the programs because it will relate to the workforce, about 100 people. Will the expertise still be there? If not, are you going to be lacking in expertise and then have a second problem?

[Wade Aucoin]

Mr. Godin, we are working closely with the Government of New Brunswick.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Aucoin, I know that you are working very hard. You are doing all that can be done. However, if the minister cuts the number of jobs at ACOA, how are you going to implement the program?

[Wade Aucoin]

We have entered into agreements with the Government of New Brunswick to achieve the new objective. I can, however, tell you about the good results we have achieved through this project.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

On the anglophone side, there are 2,000 immigrants, and there are 300 on the francophone side. You call those good results?

[Wade Aucoin]

Under the immigration project, which totals $10 million, 400 immigrants have settled in various regions, including yours.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Aucoin, as I told you at the outset, I have only seven minutes. You have made some excellent efforts, but are you not afraid that with the $15 million in cuts, all those efforts will fall by the wayside, fall into Chaleur Bay?

[Wade Aucoin]

I really do think we can manage the situation with the resources available to us.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

You referred to agreements with the provinces relating to certain programs. What is ACOA doing to make sure that francophones get something out of them? I have been to Newfoundland and Labrador. In terms of the CBDCs, are you sure that province is sufficiently bilingual that services will be offered to francophones? That is not what those people tell me, at least. When you telephone St. John's, nobody speaks French. So you have to go through Moncton, but you are not able to speak to the officers because they are too busy and the process takes too long. As well, the funds for implementing the programs have been cut by $15 million. Do you not think that this is going to aggravate the situation even further?

What do the agreements with the provinces actually involve? Under these provincial agreements, in the case of an ACOA program, when you transfer a program that comes from the federal government, do you make sure that the official languages are respected?

[Denise Frenette]

Under our contribution agreement, it is the province of New Brunswick that is responsible for managing the project. That being the case, we make sure there are provisions for....

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

I was talking about Newfoundland and Labrador.

[Denise Frenette]

Right, but I was talking about the immigration project.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

I am talking about other programs. This is about the francophone community and ACOA's responsibilities when it comes to bilingualism. The programs you transfer to the province, the CBDCs, for example, are they local? Do you make sure that bilingualism is respected?

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Godin.

Mr. Aucoin.

[Wade Aucoin]

I do not entirely understand your question. In the other provinces, we do not have agreements like the one currently in effect in New Brunswick relating to immigration.

However, to answer your question about the CBDCs specifically, I would point out that they are not under provincial jurisdiction. They are independent incorporated entities that have their own boards of directors. There are about 10 designated CBDCs that offer bilingual services in regions where there is a substantial concentration of francophones. We are familiar with those regions.

Over the last year, while the CBDC funding model was being reformulated, each CBDC was allocated $10,000 so they could serve the francophone community in the regions better.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

Mr. Gourde.