This observation is based on a number of findings, first that of the experts in second-language instruction and acquisition research. They unanimously agree that, to learn a second language, you have to be immersed in an environment where the majority speaks that language. That's the first finding.
The second finding concerns the results of all those second-language acquisition methods used by the federal public service to lead federal public servants to acquire a second language. A number take courses at language schools a few hours a week; others receive courses in their offices, and the result is that they've not yet reached a satisfaction level or satisfactory success rate using those methods to enable the majority of those federal public servants to acquire that second language.
The third finding is that most anglophone universities that have understood the importance of developing bilingualism favour immersion programs, those that enable students who have a different first language to soak up the second language in a francophone context or environment, in addition to courses and extra-curricular activities. This enables them to develop this language ability or language skills in their second language.
Based on those three findings, we've observed that it is true that immersion programs do exist. Either they are short-term courses for those students or individuals and do not enable them to develop enough language skills to become bilingual, or those students are immersed in a majority first-language environment, which also undermines the objective or effectiveness of that method. Hence the proposal to offer these learners a framework or environment that is a majority second-language environment so that they can optimize what they are already learning about that second language in courses.
As a solution, we propose the Université du Québec en Outaouais, given that, as I said in my opening remarks, it has a geographic location that does not help it but it could be very strategic. It is a francophone environment, but one in which anglophones who would come to learn French at the UQO would not feel entirely out of their element. Not only would they be in contact with French speakers, they would also be immersed in a francophone environment, while retaining their first language, their mother tongue, which is English.