Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First, I would like to greet my friends who are here today. You are sort of like my family. I am delighted to be here again today.
I would also like to congratulate you on the work that you do in committee. I know that you work hard and we greatly appreciate it.
Our government contributes in many ways to the vitality of official-language communities. Your study on their economic situation will fuel our discussions about what must be done to continue to support the development of these communities. I know that in my home province of Manitoba, the Economic Development Council for Bilingual Municipalities does an amazing job. I look forward to seeing your report and recommendations.
First let's talk about the Roadmap for Canada's Official Languages 2013-2018: education, immigration, communities.
We are nearing the end of the second year of implementing our roadmap. This $1.1-billion investment over five years has borne fruit across the country in the targeted sectors of education, immigration and community support.
On education, our activities are undertaken in cooperation with our partners including those in the field of education, which is our community's number one priority.
When I met with you last year I confirmed the renewal of our cooperation with the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada. The protocol for agreements established with the council provides for federal investments of close to $1.3 billion over five years. Bilateral agreements with the provinces and territories have since been signed according to the protocol. These agreements ensure the development and the successful functioning of education networks for minority communities and second language education.
In concrete terms, it means that, today, more than 240,000 students from official language communities receive an education in their own language. Increasingly, these students are able to complete all of their education, from early childhood through to adulthood, in their own official language.
In January, we announced a contribution of $4 million in support of a professional training centre for the building trade in Saint-Eustache, Quebec. This centre will be built as a result of the cooperation between two school boards: one English and one French.
This is a winning partnership. We're working together and our young people, both anglophone and francophone, will all benefit. Last summer our government also announced a contribution of $1.2 million in support of the
Réseau des cégeps et des collèges francophones du Canada.
This is another example of our support for post-secondary training in our communities. Our government provides the necessary tools to train a solid, new generation, and this generation will in turn contribute to the future of official language communities.
Our linguistic duality is also enriched by second-language learning. In Canada, close to 2.4 million young people are learning English or French as a second language.
I myself learned French in immersion classes and so did my children. This is also the case for many of my colleagues. In fact, it is the first time in the history of our Parliament that there have been so many bilingual ministers from the West. They are the complete result of French immersion.
Knowing both of our official languages is an important advantage in the labour market. Being bilingual also introduces us to another culture and broadens our horizons.
That is the view of a growing number of Canadians. We've seen a record number of enrolments in French immersion classes this year. There are in fact more than 370,000 young people attending immersion classes in Canada, which is an increase of 18% in less than 10 years.
Having said that, I would say that I remain concerned about the lack of opportunities to practice speaking a second language in schools and I continue to encourage my provincial and territorial colleagues to ensure these opportunities exist day to day in schools. In fact in a new protocol for agreements for education, I proposed that the provinces and territories pay special attention to measuring the acquisition of language skills and promote the sharing of best practices in this area. I am hopeful these suggestions help to improve the quality of languages attained by our students.
Our young people can also benefit from the 7,800 scholarships and 700 summer jobs that we finance. These first-hand experiences complement classroom learning while giving them the opportunity to get to know our country better.
We are not focusing only on our young people. Our government is also building on language training for newcomers. More than 29,000 economic immigrants are registered in language classes.
This is a direct result of the roadmap, with immigration as one of its pillars.
The vast majority of the 250,000 immigrants that Canada receives every year have neither English nor French as their mother tongue.
Many of these immigrants integrate into our society through our official languages. Even though 20% of Canadians have a different mother tongue, more than 98% of our population speaks either English or French, or both.
Our national languages are therefore a valuable integration tool. In order to make this integration easier, we support more than 40 organizations that help newcomers to settle in francophone communities outside Quebec. We also recruit qualified francophone workers from overseas through the Destination Canada job fair, which provides matching opportunities with Canadian employers. It is increasingly successful. Requests have increased from 16,000 in 2011 to more than 20,000 in 2013.
Our actions also provide support to official language communities including direct services to citizens. We've renewed our bilateral agreements in order to help provincial and territorial governments provide services to Canadians in the language of their choice. We are talking about $16.3 million granted every year to the provinces and territories.
But other ministries are also hard at work. For example, within the framework of the road map, networking, training, and access to health care activities are implemented by Health Canada.
Industry Canada has been working to better understand the challenges that face communities in sectors like tourism.
Businesses established in francophone communities in the western part of the country can benefit from the help of Western Economic Diversification Canada for their projects on the international stage.
Arts and culture have not been left behind. I know that many of you love this topic. Our government supports a large number of cultural organizations and artists from minority communities.
In my role as Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, I often meet young francophone and francophile artists proud of their origin, their accent and their attachment to the French language.
They are following in the footsteps of Lisa LeBlanc, Les Hay Babies, Damien Robitaille, Caroline Savoie, and Chic Gamine. These are among the artists who received support from the Canada Council for the Arts or took part in one of the 750 musical showcases financed by Canadian Heritage in 2014.
Lastly, let's talk about celebrations. I agree with Commissioner Fraser about the importance of promoting both of our national languages as part of high-profile events. Within a few months the greater Toronto area will host the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games. This will provide an opportunity to highlight our linguistic duality. That's why an agreement was signed with the Toronto games organizers to ensure bilingual services.
Celebrations leading us to Canada's 150th anniversary in 2017 will also take place in the context of our commitment to promoting our official languages. They will serve as opportunities to remember that the coexistence of English and French is part of what defines us as Canadians. This year, as we celebrate 400 years of francophone presence right here in Ontario, it's important that we proclaim this loud and clear.
In conclusion, I want to encourage you all as Parliamentarians to promote the use of both of our national languages wherever and whenever possible. Being a role model to others is important and your actions could make the difference to young aspiring Canadians who dream of being bilingual.
My dream is to normalize French and English in minority language communities like mine in Saint Boniface, so that Canadians are never more surprised when they hear French and English being spoken, that they see it as normal, and truly, as a Canadian way of life.
Thank you for your attention.
Mr. Chair, I am ready to answer any questions members of the committee may have.
