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
Assistant Deputy Minister, Immigration Division, Department of Labour and Immigration, Government of Manitoba
Oh, absolutely.
Executive Director, Office of Immigration, Government of Nova Scotia
I'm not sure I would say the pie is big enough, but I would agree with Ben that when we go abroad, we go as provinces in a country called Canada, and we work cooperatively.
Manitoba, which has been the leader in this regard, has been very generous with its lessons learned and with helping provinces such as Nova Scotia. I don't feel there is any animosity at all. We work cooperatively.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney
Friendly competition is good.
We'll now start our second round with Madame Zarac.
Liberal
Lise Zarac Liberal LaSalle—Émard, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Good morning to everyone.
My first question is addressed to Ms. Mills and Mr. Rempel.
Concerning the promotion you do abroad, I would like to know whether there is really a will to recruit francophone immigrants.
Executive Director, Office of Immigration, Government of Nova Scotia
Absolutely. Citizenship and Immigration Canada provides funding to those provinces that wish to participate and specifically target francophone immigrants. Nova Scotia, since the opening of our Office of Immigration in the spring of 2005, has participated in those immigration fairs, not just with our provincial government staff, not just with Joëlle and other staff in our office, but also with our community partners.
To go back to the question about why immigrants would want to come to either Manitoba or Nova Scotia, I think Nova Scotia is probably not the first destination of choice that many francophone immigrants would consider, but this gives us an opportunity, along with our partners, to talk about the rich Acadian culture that does exist in Nova Scotia and about the welcoming communities.
Through that opportunity, we are able to inform people better about what Nova Scotia has to offer, and yes, we are very much interested in attracting more francophone immigrants and retaining them.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Immigration Division, Department of Labour and Immigration, Government of Manitoba
It is very much the same in Manitoba. We recognize that immigration is a long-term effort. The promotion work you do likely doesn't bear results for a year or two or three. As we can all appreciate, this is sometimes a hard case to make with our treasury boards and funders, but we have been successful in doing that, showing that we will go to events in France and Belgium twice a year at least. I think we need to be engaging more regularly.
Although it is a much more expensive and logistically difficult place to work, we will go to West Africa because we know that long-term profile building, relationship building, and promotion work are what's going to pay the dividends over the long term. That 7% isn't built through six months of effort. It's built through sustained effort over a number of years, and we have support to do that fortunately, so far, in our budgets and from our governments. The will is definitely there.
Liberal
Lise Zarac Liberal LaSalle—Émard, QC
So there is additional financing if you attempt to recruit francophone immigrants. Is that correct?
Executive Director, Office of Immigration, Government of Nova Scotia
We don't have an unlimited budget in Nova Scotia, sad to say, but we do have a budget. In fact, this year our government increased our international marketing budget, which we are very pleased about.
Liberal
Lise Zarac Liberal LaSalle—Émard, QC
It's not necessary to recruit francophones, the idea is to promote this abroad.
Executive Director, Office of Immigration, Government of Nova Scotia
It's to recruit all immigrants. Because we now have more money on the overall marketing side, we will be able to do more on the francophone side as well.
Liberal
Lise Zarac Liberal LaSalle—Émard, QC
Do you agree with me that recruitment with a minority requires greater efforts, and more funding from governments and community organizations?
Executive Director, Office of Immigration, Government of Nova Scotia
I'll take you along with me to Treasury Board next time.
Liberal
Lise Zarac Liberal LaSalle—Émard, QC
Ms. Mills, I would like to put a question to you on retention. There has been an improvement there but the fact remains that 36% of immigrants leave the province.
Do you have any statistics broken down by the language spoken? We are talking about 64% of immigrants, but I would like to know the number of francophone immigrants who leave the province.
Executive Director, Office of Immigration, Government of Nova Scotia
We are using census data to find out our retention rates. We haven't done any other form of retention information because that's really the only source data we have. The 2001 census data said that our retention rate was 37%, almost 40%. The 2006 census says it is 63% or 64%. I don't have the numbers with me now, broken down by language, but I will check to see if Statistics Canada has done the breakdown. I think they have. I would be happy to provide that to you.
Liberal
Lise Zarac Liberal LaSalle—Émard, QC
Yes, please. Thank you.
You've probably analyzed why you are losing immigrants in your province.
Executive Director, Office of Immigration, Government of Nova Scotia
Well, first of all, 63% is a pretty good retention rate. It's very good. As Ben said, the outcomes for immigrants who stay in Nova Scotia, like those in Manitoba, are much better than the national average. Those people who stay are doing better economically. The number one reason why they do not stay is that they're not able to find employment or business opportunities in their areas of expertise.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Steven Blaney
Thank you very much, Ms. Zarac.
I now give the floor to Ms. Guay.
Monique Guay Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
Welcome to all of you.
I'd like to continue in the same vein as Ms. Zarac.
Ms. Mills, you say that immigrants leave the province, that they can't manage to find a job. If you recruit francophones so that they can come and settle in a province that is for the most part anglophone, I think it is extremely difficult for them. They can't work in their language. Clearly, they have to learn English. Am I right?
Bloc
Monique Guay Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
They learn English from the outset. Moreover, clearly you can't offer them the same quantity of services that anglophones can access in Quebec.
Executive Director, Office of Immigration, Government of Nova Scotia
No, because people access a variety of services: banking services, transportation services, and investment services. Not all of those services are available in French.
Bloc
Monique Guay Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
To my way of thinking, wanting to receive a greater number of francophones is more of a dream than a reality. If these francophones arrive in your province with their family, from whichever francophone country, and they only speak French, it is going to be extremely difficult for them to integrate and succeed. They are going to have to learn the second language. As for the children, it is certain that they will face assimilation one day or the next, if only because of their friends, even if they attend a French-language school.
To my mind, to say that a francophone community is going to manage to survive is a sort of myth. It would take more tools, services, employment possibilities in French for them to really be able to continue to develop in their language. Am I right? This isn't a criticism, it's just a fact.