Thank you, sir.
The Fédération canadienne pour l'alphabétisation en français would like to thank you for inviting us. We would like to contribute our views to this consultation on employability. We thus hope to be a voice for the less literate, those whose labour market participation status is fragile.
In 1987, with a shortage of skilled labour and the emergence of a knowledge-based economy, the Government of Canada created the National Literacy Secretariat to explore the problem of illiteracy and search for solutions in cooperation with provincial and territorial governments.
Twenty years later, Canadian society still faces the same problem, with an added sense of urgency that is expressed mainly by business.
Today, we have the knowledge and tools needed to begin action. We now know that literacy is a skill developed during childhood, formalized in school and maintained throughout life.
The Fédération canadienne pour l'alphabétisation en français has been working as an expert in this field for 15 years. We bring together more than 400 agencies devoted to literacy training in all 10 provinces and 2 territories. We offer basic education and literacy to more than 20,000 adults. Our members are solution bearers. We partner with governments to ensure the maintenance and development of the quality of life of Canadians.
For us, success in this venture depends on Canadians' ability to participate in a knowledge economy. For this to happen, less literate adults must have access to literacy services in French in all provinces and territories.
Statistics Canada defines literacy as the ability of a person to use "printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge and potential".
The definition of literacy has changed significantly over time. Literacy requirements have increased in recent decades, both in society in general and in the world of work. Nowadays, jobs require improved reading and writing skills: we use computers, and we need to understand complex processes in both task performance and work organization. At the same time, the immigrant population is increasing. This group is experiencing specific difficulties. The population is also aging.
In November 2005, Statistics Canada published the first Canadian results of the International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey. It reveals that the situation of francophones has not changed in 10 years. The francophone community still has an average literacy level lower than Canada's English-speaking majority.
The survey reveals that 55% of francophones in Canada do not have sufficient reading skills to be functional in present day society and meet the needs of the labour market. These data are important and cannot be ignored.
I would also like to point out that 12 million Canadians are at literacy levels 1 and 2, whereas level 3 is considered the minimum literacy level for a knowledge society. Nine million of that 12 million people are of working age. Although the literacy network has seen some people become literate, the absolute number of adults receiving training or who have completed their training is not enough to change the statistical data.
One could ask the following question: Why become literate in French if you are in a minority situation in the provinces of Canada other than Quebec? We believe and we are certain that francophones must become literate in their own language for two major reasons. The first reason is the maintenance of Canada's linguistic duality as entrenched in the Charter and formalized in the Official Languages Act. The second reason is that francophones work in French even in minority environments.
The statistical data are clear and have been confirmed: those who are employed have higher literacy levels than the unemployed or those in low-paying jobs. Indeed, jobs require ever-increasing skills in both reading and writing, and also in problem-solving and team work. International comparisons show that countries with active, literate populations achieve better economic performance.
How can we break this circle? The solution may be found, in our view, in actively offering employment-related training within community contexts.
The FCAF and its members offer literacy and essential skill development services for those in greatest need. However, this network currently only has the means to meet the needs of roughly 1% of the francophone population with level 1 and 2 literacy. It is therefore important for us to increase the amount of training offered and to develop new strategies targeted at recruiting less literate adults. This solution is of course in addition to training within the work environment.
According to the 2001 census, 67% of francophones outside Quebec use French in their work. In Quebec, nearly all workers use French at work. This finding increases the need for us to provide more training in French within the work environment all across Canada.
We have some solutions to propose to you.
Much more must be invested to ensure access, the services offered and the increase in demand with respect to literacy. Stability must now be ensured in the offer of services in French everywhere across Canada. Incentive measures are required to encourage business to invest in training their least-schooled workers. Quebec's Bill 90 is surely a good example of this. The Government of Canada, to comply with its own laws and to maintain our bilingual human capital, must make the investments that will encourage literacy in French among francophones.
Since submitting our brief in September, we have drawn up 10-year catch-up plans, and we have costed that catch-up in order to increase the literacy rate for francophones in Canada. We would like two out of three francophone Canadians to be sufficiently schooled to function in the society of 2007.
Thank you.