Official Languages committee  Because of our history and the challenges we faced around bilingualism in the old days, we tend to view bilingualism as an expense and a burden, and we overlook its economic potential. As a country, we really need to see the economic potential that bilingualism holds. And the sam

Official Languages committee  If the answer is yes, that perspective is becoming increasingly difficult to make out.

Official Languages committee  I don't think we are competing with another country. The proof is that we are never up to date with processing all the applications from potential immigrants who want to come to Canada. Canada is a wonderful country and many people want to come here. The question is this: how do

Official Languages committee  First, those businesses have not necessarily started the process of filling those positions through immigration. We are talking about small and medium-sized businesses in smaller regions where managers have often not gone to university or even graduated high school. All those pro

Official Languages committee  So far, we have not been of service to business in immigration matters. However, in light of the change in the direction of the RDEE program, we are currently working with the Société de l’Acadie du Nouveau-Brunswick and with the Association francophone des municipalités du Nouve

Official Languages committee  That is our position precisely: since we do not start on a level playing field, we need positive measures to encourage francophone immigration. That will not happen on its own. We will have to make additional effort. The francophone significant benefit program was one of those po

Official Languages committee  It was implemented too recently for me to be able to know how it works and whether its impact will affect us in a different way.

Official Languages committee  It is in New Brunswick in general, not only in the cities. In fact, we have just conducted a survey in the entire province that has shown that our entrepreneurs in the rural regions of northern New Brunswick—where the unemployment rate is higher than in the rest of the province—a

Official Languages committee  Absolutely, yes, I agree with you.

Official Languages committee  Yes, absolutely, we cannot convince immigrants to come to us, bring them there and then have them on EI. We know that the needs are pressing in some sectors. For instance, the forestry sector has suffered. A lot of factors have contributed to things not going so well in that sect

Official Languages committee  Absolutely.

Official Languages committee  We have conducted some quite in-depth surveys to get an idea of that situation. In New Brunswick, there was a lot of talk about the unemployment rate. We might think that people see immigrants as competition for jobs, but that is not at all the case. Businesses don't really think

Official Languages committee  It is the case, but the instinct is not there. We survey our entrepreneurs every year and, as I said earlier, the workforce question has been a top concern for over 10 years, but the question on the efforts put into immigration and access has never been on the list of concerns. W

Official Languages committee  I don't know the exact number, but over 80% of francophone immigrants who come in through New Brunswick decide to stay there. I don't have the statistics, but we often hear that francophone immigrants come to New Brunswick because they know that it is a province where they will b

Official Languages committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Seven minutes is not a great amount of time, so I am going to talk very quickly. My apologies for that in advance. My name is Anne Hébert. I am the Director General of the Conseil économique du Nouveau-Brunswick, an organization founded in 1979 to be the v