Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our committee. This has been a very interesting discussion. It is especially interesting to be studying immigration, because we learn something new every day.
As Mr. D'Amours was saying, we had an opportunity this week to visit a school. It gave us a chance to get out of our bubble. We saw things differently, and heard from parents and students. As I am sure you realize, young people can more easily become integrated than people who are a little older.
Earlier, there was quite a lot of discussion about credential recognition. I am not very comfortable with acronyms, but I would like to read one of the SANB's recommendations:
Introduce nation-wide standardization to simplify foreign credential recognition. At present, diplomas are not always recognized from one province to another; as well, each province is responsible for establishing connections with various countries to determine equivalencies, a highly complex and painstaking process.
Basically, recognition of foreign diplomas is a provincial government responsibility. That is unfortunate, and we are anxious to do our share, but each government and each province has its own criteria when it comes to recognizing foreign diplomas. For example, in recent years, Quebec has signed agreements with France for the recognition of certain diplomas and professional credentials, such as for midwives and doctors. That shows that this is something a provincial government can do.
Could you explain how you perceive the federal government's role in initiatives of this kind?