Thank you Mr. Chair, members of the committee.
The most recent studies on the economic impact of our institutions illustrate the economic contribution of their thousands of employees, students and graduates, which is estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars for the respective provinces and for Canada as a whole.
Moreover, through the many partnerships between the universities, colleges and businesses, bilingual professionals are trained who meet market needs and foster knowledge, innovation and technology transfer to the private sector.
It is a well-known fact that bilingualism increases Canadians' productivity and competitiveness in the labour market, in Canada and internationally. According to research conducted by Rodrigue Landry, stronger French education leads to greater bilingualism. Mastering both official languages as well as the French and English professional terminology in a given field also enables Canadians to take advantage of opportunities in the development of francophone-dominated foreign markets.
Finally, according to a recent study by the European Institute of Business Administration, French is the world's third most important language of business and will be among the most widely spoken languages in the world by 2050.
Unfortunately, while French is expanding globally, we are seeing an erosion of the French language in Canada that is as serious as the deterioration of our roads and bridge infrastructure. This does not give francophone and Acadian communities the linguistic security to which they are entitled. This is clearly related to the state of federal funding for the official languages over the past 10 years. This has resulted in a marked decline. It is time to catch up and move forward.
To remedy this situation, the ACUFC recommends that the federal government increase its investment in the 2018-2023 action plan for the official languages and that funding be provided in the 2018 budget for three priority areas in particular. They are as follows.
First, we recommend strengthening and expanding the initial and ongoing training offered to health care professionals in all disciplines and at more post-secondary institutions throughout Canada. This requires an investment of $130 million.
Secondly, we are asking for better initial and ongoing training for legal professionals in both official languages in all areas of the law. This requires an investment of $76.5 million.
Finally, we recommend strengthening and enhancing the education and research programs at post-secondary institutions in the Canadian francophonie and their network initiatives in order to improve access to and flexibility in post-secondary education in French in Canada. This requires an investment of $17.6 million.