Official Languages Committee on March 13th, 2012

[Wade Aucoin]

Yes.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Thank you.

Have you heard about the $10 million that the NRCC has invested in creating interactive language technologies? Is the NB Translation program part of that? The project targets small and medium businesses and partnerships with the government to improve the translation situation.

[Wade Aucoin]

Yes, we are familiar with it. To my knowledge, that technology has not been used by the people at NB Translation in what they are trying to do for small businesses. The idea was to adapt translation for small businesses looking for a service. They really wanted to be alongside them and to respond to their needs through this project.

[Dan Harris, NDP, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

I would like to suggest that more research be done on this.

to get the biggest bang for our buck.

If you have already spent $300,000 and the NRCC has spent $10 million, that makes a lot of spending.

In my opinion, it would be a good idea to try to put more emphasis on communication between departments and with the government, to get more results and spend the funds better.

I have one minute left. Very quickly, I will address everyone.

What have the effects been on ACOA and CIC of the work done by the Advisory Committee on the Public Service appointed by the Prime Minister?

[Denise Frenette]

I am going to answer for us only. I have not looked at the issue, but we could get back to you on this.

[Peter Sylvester]

Nor us. We could get back to you with that information after we ask the department. Absolutely.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

Mr. Menegakis, you have the floor.

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Richmond Hill, ON]

I have a couple of questions, and I want to start with CIC. Last year we had 43 million people visit Canada's immigration website. Of those, 56% were from non-Canadians outside of Canada. There's obviously a tremendous interest in coming to this country—in some part, I would assume, because this is a bilingual country. There are people who speak the French language who would like to come to Canada. It would be an attractive destination for them.

You testified about a Destination Canada job fair. I wonder if you can elaborate on that a little bit in the context of the francophone community and francophone applicants who would like to come to our country.

[Peter Sylvester]

It would be my pleasure to elaborate, and I'll ask my colleague, Yves Saint-Germain, to complement my answer.

I mentioned Destination Canada because it is fair to describe it as our flagship program for recruitment and promotion overseas. It's been growing in popularity, and I think its impact has grown over the years. We do this once a year, in November typically, in Paris, Brussels, and Tunis. It's an opportunity for us to bring Canadian delegations overseas, representatives from the provinces. For example, New Brunswick was represented in our last edition of the program. Employers are also available to make connections with folks from overseas who are interested in coming to Canada.

In response to your question about our website, we make an effort to reflect the bilingual nature of our country. It is an important asset for those who are looking for a new destination to be able to get the touch, look, and feel of the government. The department is there supporting immigration for them. So Destination Canada has been very important. This latest edition featured an exemption from labour market opinions for temporary foreign workers. This is an interesting angle that we tried to promote this time around. It means that employers could make job offers on the spot, without the need to check the labour market. It affords a privileged position to francophone immigrants and supports that priority for us. I think we had something like 150 job offers by virtue of that program. So that was a gain for us, and something we'll be looking to explore in future years.

[Yves Saint-Germain]

I want to add that in terms of the CIC and promoting the country, we have, as you mentioned, on the CIC website a specific section dedicated to francophone immigration. It explains where communities are located across the country and gives profiles of those committees. This information has been produced in collaboration with Fédération des communautés francophones et acadiennes. It gives a sense of where people can actually settle in Canada in French.

The other thing is that we have a connection with the “Working in Canada” tool on the HRSDC website. It provides a sense of what kind of labour market exists and what types of jobs are available in those specific communities. It provides another incentive for potential candidates to apply for immigration to Canada.

With respect to Destination Canada, I'll share some good results. We tested this new model of labour market exemptions and arranged employment offers. The idea is to basically fast-track potential candidates as immigrants to Canada. Over 150 offers were received in terms of LMOs. Of those, 6% of participants to job fairs received a job offer, 28% received an expression of interest, and almost 20% got an invitation from an employer to stay in touch after arriving in Canada.

There are a lot of connections being made now between employers and immigrants. That means they'll be better able to secure a job when they land in Canada.

[Costas Menegakis, Conservative, Richmond Hill, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Mr. Menegakis.

Mr. Godin, it is your turn.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

I have only five minutes, and it will go faster.

Ten million dollars has been invested in New Brunswick. Of that money, $3.7 million has been spent. There has been an extension to 2014. Would ACOA like to see the roadmap continue?

[Denise Frenette]

As we said, we think the roadmap has had a positive impact. Renewing the roadmap would be seen positively by the agency; it would allow us to continue.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Have you heard anything from the government or your department to say that even if the roadmap were not renewed, the immigration program would continue?

[Denise Frenette]

There has been no discussion of that subject.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Has there been a summative evaluation? We are now at the midway point of the roadmap. Have you done evaluations with the community?

[Denise Frenette]

New Brunswick will be doing a specific evaluation of the immigration portion of the roadmap. The work has not yet started. ACOA itself will be evaluating it in the broader framework of its activities. So we do not have the results of the evaluation at present.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Under the agreement, does New Brunswick have to account to ACOA?

[Denise Frenette]

Yes.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Does that relate to the roadmap and the $10 million?

[Denise Frenette]

Yes.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

They do the evaluation, rather than you.

[Denise Frenette]

They will initiate the evaluation.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

I am talking about the evaluation of the roadmap. They are the ones who do it?