Evidence of meeting #16 for Official Languages in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was manitoba.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
NDP
Claude Gravelle NDP Nickel Belt, ON
Good morning.
Mr. Rempel, do you have statistics on the number of international students who stay after their studies are finished? Do you have any programs in place to encourage them to stay?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Immigration Division, Department of Labour and Immigration, Government of Manitoba
If you're talking about the exact statistic, I can follow up with you.
Colin's telling me that there have been 26.
Policy and Program Analyst, Immigration Division, Department of Labour and Immigration, Government of Manitoba
Yes. In the last three years, 26 francophone international students applied to the PNP and were accepted.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Immigration Division, Department of Labour and Immigration, Government of Manitoba
What we have done to encourage them to stay is to encourage off-campus employment programs for them while they're studying. We were part of the negotiating team of provinces that arranged this with Citizenship and Immigration Canada. We also assist students to connect with employment opportunities after graduation to allow them to stay.
And also, I think, we need to recognize--I think this has been a bit of the shift in thinking--that the first job an immigrant gets after graduation is not going to be their career job, just like it was for most of us after we graduated. We will have to accept a ladder, in many ways, a stepping-stone type of job. That's what we've done with a number of our students to encourage more of them to make the transition.
NDP
Claude Gravelle NDP Nickel Belt, ON
If I were a French immigrant, other than the fact that Manitoba is a wonderful place to live, what would encourage me to come to Manitoba?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Immigration Division, Department of Labour and Immigration, Government of Manitoba
When we are overseas speaking to potential immigrants—and Colin can attest to this—we don't really try to persuade people not to go to Quebec. People who are looking for a 100% francophone lifestyle in Canada will choose a destination in Quebec, in all likelihood. But we find that there are people looking for a somewhat different experience.
The ability to live in a bilingual environment is often attractive to them, as is the fact that their children can be educated in French. They can live in a French-speaking community and can interact in French on a daily basis, but have the opportunity to learn English as well, so that's a bit of who we're speaking to, in some ways. They are attracted in many ways to what Manitoba has to offer, and there's the fact that they can do post-secondary education in French.
NDP
Claude Gravelle NDP Nickel Belt, ON
Ms. Mills, you have said that the population of Nova Scotia is the oldest population in Canada.
Do you have a long-term target to attract more francophone immigrants? You have a 4% target currently. Do you have another long-term target?
Executive Director, Office of Immigration, Government of Nova Scotia
No. In fact, 4% of the current Nova Scotia population speaks French as their mother tongue. It's not a goal or a target; that's the actual percentage. We haven't set a target in that regard as far as the percentage of immigrants landing in Nova Scotia are concerned. We are developing a new immigration strategy for Nova Scotia. We are working with our francophone partners on that. They are developing a long-term action plan and we're working with them on that.
NDP
Claude Gravelle NDP Nickel Belt, ON
I'm sorry. I misunderstood. I thought your goal was 4%. So don't you think it would be a good idea to set an actual goal for French-speaking immigrants to come to Nova Scotia?
Executive Director, Office of Immigration, Government of Nova Scotia
I'm not going to be able to answer that question without doing the homework. At this point, we are preparing the groundwork. We're looking at how we can build our capacity to attract and retain more immigrants overall with all our immigrant landings in Nova Scotia. We are in our infancy in immigration in Nova Scotia. We're learning from Manitoba.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney
Thank you.
Have you concluded, Mr. Gravelle? Very well. Thank you.
Ms. O'Neill-Gordon, I think you want to ask our witnesses some questions.
Conservative
Tilly O'Neill-Gordon Conservative Miramichi, NB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to welcome all of you here this morning. I also want to take the opportunity to congratulate you on the work you are doing. It's probably your hard work, your organizing, and the hospitality you provide, all these of three practices, that we can attribute your success to so far.
We also were discussing here the different agreements that have been brought forth between our federal and provincial governments. We referred to the framework agreement, the provincial nominee program, and the settlement services agreement.
I'm wondering which federal and provincial immigration agreements are currently in effect in your province.
Executive Director, Office of Immigration, Government of Nova Scotia
Okay. We have a Canada-Nova Scotia immigration framework agreement, and that agreement has a nominee program annex. We have a Canada-Nova Scotia Acadian community agreement. I'm not going to restrict it just to immigration. If I may, I'm also going to talk about official languages federal-provincial agreements that exist in Nova Scotia. We have a Canada-Nova Scotia Acadian community agreement, which is with Canadian Heritage. We have a Canada-Nova Scotia agreement on education, again with Canadian Heritage. As I mentioned, we have the overall Canada-Nova Scotia immigration framework agreement as well.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Immigration Division, Department of Labour and Immigration, Government of Manitoba
It would be the Canada-Manitoba Immigration Agreement, which has the general provisions and annexes that provide for funding for our settlement programs and the criteria for our provincial nominee program. We are now discussing further annexes on information sharing, temporary foreign workers, and so on, all of which allow us to continue a very fruitful partnership with CIC.
Conservative
Tilly O'Neill-Gordon Conservative Miramichi, NB
We see in some provinces that francophone communities are located in the rural areas. I was wondering where francophone immigrants settle when they arrive in your province. Do they settle near the older francophone communities or do they create new communities? Or are they concentrated in particular areas of the province?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Immigration Division, Department of Labour and Immigration, Government of Manitoba
In Manitoba, I think right now the principal destination is our francophone quartier in Winnipeg, St. Boniface, although they do locate in proximity to that area. St. Boniface is adjacent to our downtown area.
We are encouraging more francophone immigrants to consider the range of francophone communities outside Winnipeg, and CDEM, the organization named in the presentation, has a role in that area.
A key challenge in our regions is often succession for small businesses and so forth. So part of our attraction strategy through the work of ANIM overseas and promoting Manitoba as a destination for business people and entrepreneurs is also to put that on the table.
Probably our biggest non-urban migration of francophone immigrants so far is in our agriculture sector, with people buying farms and so on.
Executive Director, Office of Immigration, Government of Nova Scotia
The numbers show that 76% of all our immigrants settle in HRM, Halifax Regional Municipality, and that is also true of our francophone immigrants. Those who settle outside the HRM in rural communities do so because they have a job in those communities.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney
Thank you, Ms. O'Neill-Gordon.
I have a question for you, Mr. Rempel. Are you competing with other provinces to attract French-speaking immigrants?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Immigration Division, Department of Labour and Immigration, Government of Manitoba
I suppose it would be a measure of the success of this strategy if I said yes, but so far I think it's mostly provinces like Nova Scotia and Manitoba, and New Brunswick a little bit, that are participating in these events. I think Saskatchewan, B.C., and Alberta are getting more involved, so the competition will come.
But I've always found--and I think Elizabeth will attest to this--that when we go overseas ensemble we speak with a common message; we're really speaking to people who are attracted to Canada and we are presenting a diversity of choice. Immigrants stay in places they choose to go and where they feel welcome.
There is a friendly competition, and that will likely increase as more people become involved, but overall it's to the benefit of Canada and all of us.
