Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would like to thank you on behalf of the Conseil de la coopération de la Saskatchewan, or CCS, for inviting me to appear before you as you begin your study on the economic situation of Canada's minority linguistic communities.
CCS, which was founded in 1947, is the organization mandated by the Fransaskois community to promote economic and cooperative development across the province. We are members of RDÉE Canada and of Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada, the former Conseil canadien de la coopération et de la mutualité. We are also one of the Francophone Economic Development Organizations in Western Canada, as my colleague just noted.
Other francophone organizations in the province offer programs and services in various activity sectors. We cooperate regularly and closely with those organizations to avoid duplicating services offered to the community and to maximize the resources put at our disposal.
A year ago, we signed a memorandum of understanding with the organization that represents us, the Assemblée communautaire fransaskoise, which is a member of the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, to provide us with the tools to help us deliver services to our communities more efficiently and to clearly define the roles and responsibilities of each of our agencies.
Today we receive funding from four federal departments to provide direct services to the community, for which I thank you very much. Those departments are Western Economic Diversification Canada; Employment and Social Development Canada—previously HRSDC—through the Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Communities; Canadian Heritage, through the Young Canada Works in Both Official Languages program for the Prairies and far north, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwest Territories and Nunavut; and, lastly, Citizenship and Immigration, which provides assistance to employers and job seekers.
Since our francophone population is widely scattered, we have four service points in the province so that we can get closer to that population. We nevertheless face certain challenges despite our efforts to decentralize our staff.
As you have probably heard, our provincial economy is very strong and the forecasts are for continued growth. The provincial unemployment rate is currently the lowest in the country, on a month-to-month basis, and is competitive with that of our provincial neighbour Alberta.
The construction and production sectors are currently experiencing strong growth and generating a lot of jobs in the province. The mining sector and the oil industry are also experiencing a period of growth and development in various parts of the province. The agricultural sector, although no longer the province's main economic driver, is constantly changing and contributing to the province's economy.
We are going through a period of growth and have a promising degree of stability for the future, but where do francophones stand in this economy?
Our population is scattered across the province. According to the 2011 census, French is the mother tongue of 16,280 residents, who represent only 1.6% of the province's overall population. According to the same census, approximately 47,000 people understand French in Saskatchewan. Some 65% of francophones live in urban areas and 35% in a rural setting.
According to the data, the Fransaskois population has the highest rate of population aging of all minority francophone communities in Canada. The majority of francophones in Saskatchewan work in government and the sales and service sector. In rural areas, they are mostly in the agricultural sector.
Despite our four service delivery points in the province, we must nevertheless travel long distances to serve our rural communities. This results in a lack of ongoing and timely support and inefficient use of our staff's time and slows development in certain cases because our employees are not constantly in the communities.
We are still in a position where we cannot offer the same services as our anglophone counterparts in the Community Futures program. For more than 20 years now, every member of that anglophone network has had an investment fund to support business development. We can support future entrepreneurs to a certain degree, but we have to direct them to an anglophone provider if they need financing.
According to the last census, there has been an increase in Saskatchewan's francophone population. Despite that fact, we see that the immigrant and migrant populations, which often come from the larger centres in eastern Canada, have difficulty entering the labour market. Often out of despair, these people try to set up in business even though that was not their first intention.
Since we are the only francophone organization in the province that offers this service, our staff is at times engaged in a support process with these clients who are unable to start up a business.
I have a few recommendations for you.
First of all, we would like certain programs intended for francophones to show some flexibility in meeting needs specific to the community. We are aware of the Economic Development Initiative in the roadmap, but it is defined on the basis of the departments' criteria and does not at all meet the needs of the communities.
I would also like people to take advantage of the value added by the francophone community, as indicated by the last study conducted by the Conference Board of Canada. That would help make better use of the business specialties of Quebec and the rest of Canada.
Lastly, I would like the government to ensure that all agreements between Canada and the provinces involving a devolution of power and responsibilities contain a clause requiring the provinces to contribute to the development of the Francophonie.
Thank you for listening.