Okay, I will be quick.
To increase the number of francophone immigrants, our office recommended that the provincial government adopt a government policy and clear guidelines to ensure that immigration practices benefit both linguistic communities equally. Our office also recommended that the provincial government adopt a francophone immigration strategy.
Our actions in this regard have yielded positive results. In July 2014, the Government of New Brunswick adopted an action plan to promote francophone immigration to New Brunswick.
The goal of that plan is for immigration to better reflect the linguistic makeup of our province. New Brunswick is aiming to ensure that 33% of newcomers under the New Brunswick nominee program are francophones or francophiles by 2020.
To do this, an annual increase of 3% is planned. In 2016, the annual target was 20%. This target was exceeded, given that 24% of successful candidates under the nominee program were francophones or francophiles.
Since immigration is a shared jurisdiction, there must be strong co-operation between both levels of government in order to achieve the francophone immigration goals. For that reason, in 2014, my counterparts, both federally and in Ontario, proposed that the federal and provincial governments adopt four principles to ensure that immigration contributes to the development and vitality of francophone communities. I'll skip over those principles, but they are still valid today.
Over the past few years, our office has recommended that a Canada-New Brunswick framework agreement be established to take up the challenge of francophone immigration in New Brunswick.
On March 31, 2017, in Moncton, the governments of Canada and New Brunswick signed an immigration agreement that includes an annex on francophone immigration, the first of its kind in Canada. It outlines how Canada and New Brunswick will work together to attract and retain French-speaking immigrants and bring in more skilled workers.
Needless to say, I am thrilled that this annex on francophone immigration has been signed.
We must now ensure that this agreement between the two levels of government produces results: more resources and coordination for francophone immigration, common initiatives to support host communities, innovative strategies to take up the challenges of francophone immigration in rural areas, and so on.
The future of minority francophone communities depends on immigration. That is clear. Now we must ensure that adequate resources and means are in place so that immigration would be a true vector for the vitality of the French language not only in New Brunswick, but throughout Canada.
Thank you.