Official Languages committee  I don't really know the answer to that question. In Saskatchewan, the rural communities are very small. We have a total population of about 1.5 million people. Those are the last figures I have in mind. As for our rural communities, it is obvious that immigrants will go where the

Official Languages committee  Let me add to that in terms of what we are doing. As a francophone network in Saskatchewan, we try to regroup because, first, we have a duty. We want to work with employers to recruit the immigrants here. There is integration—first they have to become settled and so on—but when t

Official Languages committee  I would like to add a comment about the Express Entry system. I am far from being an expert on that, because it was created quite recently. There is a learning curve. I am a member of the Réseau de développement économique et d'employabilité Canada, the network for economic deve

Official Languages committee  I'll see if I can respond fairly quickly. I don't think, in terms of the other languages.... The government is better equipped than I am in terms of statistics. The individual who spoke recently said that there are 170 languages in the Toronto area, if I'm not mistaken. To me, t

Official Languages committee  I would like to comment on one of the questions you posed about the provincial government and the number of francophones coming in. We have seen the numbers increase, but we have not seen them increase at the same pace as the whole. We're still below the percentage of francopho

Official Languages committee  Their involvement is really quite limited. The workers I mentioned, who work in the oil industry, are, in some cases, temporary workers, but they are also workers who come from other parts of the country. We don't see them. When someone working in the oil industry doesn't live

Official Languages committee  I would say that, in order for someone to integrate into one of Canada's official language minority communities, a considerable amount of effort is needed when it comes to the history component. In response to your first question, I would say that, because of our democratic sys

Official Languages committee  There has been a clear decrease in the number of people from different provinces who have gone to western Canada. I don't have all the numbers with me, but it seems to me that 700 people arrived in Saskatchewan in 2012. However, I would be surprised if we met with 50 of them. Ag

Official Languages committee  Absolutely not. When I look at the resources awarded to the province’s majority group, I see that it has 100 times more resources that we can have.

Official Languages committee  I can say honestly that I took part in consultations this week with the Department of Citizenship and Immigration on how to better work with the department to improve francophone economic immigration. I can say that there has been a change. I firmly believe that this change has b

Official Languages committee  We received an invitation by email, but it was limited. We had to cover our own expenses. We don't necessarily have the resources, since we are a non-profit services organization. Given the funding we receive, we don't have the right to provide services like international trips.

Official Languages committee  No. We currently receive funding from Citizenship and Immigration Canada, which is used to pay the salary of a single person. That person covers the entire province, specifically in the area of immigration. This involves providing recruiting support to businesses as well as guida

Official Languages committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Official Languages committee  I assume I can start my presentation.

Official Languages committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I am the executive director of the Conseil de la coopération de la Saskatchewan. This francophone economic organization provides economic development services to businesses and communities. Business development means creating, maintaining and sup