With respect to the question of international students and immigration, our goal is to have a francophone immigration rate of 4.4% in our communities over the next few years. It is important to reach this percentage of immigrants in order to meet the needs of our communities and to keep the number of francophones within our francophonie the same because there is a significant immigration of anglophones in our communities.
International students are one of the most important groups that will ensure that we have good francophone immigration. These people have been educated here. The have a good knowledge of the environment and they have often worked while studying. An international student is permitted to work 20 hours a week in Canada while studying. That helps them to integrate.
At present, there is a bursary in the francophonie and one of the eligibility criteria is that the person who comes to study in Canada must return to their own country. This criterion should be changed. The majority of students who come to Canada would like to stay here when they finish their studies. This criterion prevents these people from applying for this bursary.
With that in mind, we have to put in place services at our universities and colleges that will ensure the economic integration of our students once they have graduated. We have to work with them to ensure that these young people can remain in our communities afterwards and continue to work. These are two important elements.