Good morning.
Welcome to meeting number eight of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. I call the meeting to order.
Members and witnesses may speak in the official language of their choice. Interpretation services are available for this meeting. You have the choice, at the bottom of your screen, of floor, English or French. If interpretation is lost, please inform me immediately and we will ensure interpretation is properly restored before resuming the proceedings. The “raise hand” feature at the bottom of the screen can be used at any time if you wish to speak or alert the chair.
Today, we are resuming the study on recruitment and acceptance rates of foreign students.
On behalf of the committee, I would like to welcome the witnesses appearing before the committee today.
Today for this panel we are joined by Réseau des cégeps et des collèges francophones du Canada. They are being represented by Jean Léger, executive director, and François Dornier, chairman of the board. We are also joined by World Education Services, being represented by Shamira Madhany, managing director for Canada and deputy executive director.
I would like to make a few comments for the benefit of the witnesses. Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. When you are ready to speak, you can click on the microphone icon to activate your mike. I remind everyone that all comments should be addressed through the chair. Interpretation in this video conference will work very much as it does in a regular committee meeting. When you are speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. When you are not speaking, your mike should be on mute.
Witnesses will have five minutes for their opening remarks. During the rounds of questions, I will raise cards giving warnings for one minute and for 30 seconds, and a red card showing that the time is up.
I would now like to welcome Mr. Léger.
Mr. Léger, you will have five minutes for your opening remarks. Please begin.
Thank you.