Official Languages Committee on March 31st, 2015

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

Mr. Gourde, go ahead.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister Alexander, thank you for being here with us today. I wonder if you could talk a little about the Express Entry program. How could that initiative help francophone immigrants settle outside Quebec?

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Mr. Gourde, thank you for your continued efforts to be a champion of official languages in Canada.

The Express Entry program is really how we are going to achieve the goal of 4% of francophone immigrants. It's faster and it's on line. That is one way to recruit people. At job fairs like Destination Canada, people are practically obligated to create a profile when they apply for a work placement in Canada or when they apply for a one-year work permit. The Entry Express program can be quickly identified, which makes francophone immigration more successful.

This is how it works: an applicant creates a profile and is put into a pool of people who are available. Individuals are ranked based on their education, language and professional skills, and their age. People with the most points are invited to apply to come to Canada as permanent residents.

We saw the first positive results of this program last week: 2.5% of the people invited to apply were francophone, and that figure represents only those who identified themselves as francophone. We still have to identify those who are bilingual. This was done without any additional efforts to increase the number of francophones coming to Canada through Express Entry.

We are proud of this system. For the first time, we can process applications in less than six months. This is unprecedented in Canadian immigration, at least in modern times. We will continue promoting Express Entry among francophone temporary workers already in Canada and among students studying in French. There are many such students in Montreal and across the country, and they often want to stay in Canada as permanent residents.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

You said it takes about six months to consider an application. How long does it take for people selected as part of the Express Entry program to get their work visa?

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

We are seeing the first results for Express Entry. The applications were submitted in early February, and we have already issued the first visas. People who created their profiles in January can already enter Canada with their work permit in hand. That won't be the case for all of the tens of thousands who will come, but that can happen in the best case scenario. Going from profile to permit in less than three months is really a new, extraordinary phenomenon. Our immigration system will therefore be more desirable than ever among francophones.

I can also tell you that, from a competitive standpoint, it is much faster than the programs in Quebec. Quebec is currently thinking about renewing its economic immigration program, and we encourage it to do so. Still, a three-month timeframe is far better than what any of our peers are doing, including Quebec.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

Do the people using Express Entry know that being fluent in one of Canada's official languages, or both, increases their chances of being selected?

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Yes, they know. That is part of the points system, which is the very foundation of all of our economic immigration programs. I don't remember the exact number of points people get for the second language. Maybe my colleagues could tell you. In any case, the program takes that into consideration and, of course, this will increase the number of candidates who speak both official languages.

I'm told it's 24 points for the second language. How many points for the first official language?

[Yves Saint-Germain, Director, Language Program Policy, Planning and Accountability, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

One hundred and thirty-six.

[Maia Welbourne, Director General, Strategic Policy and Planning, Department of Citizenship and Immigration]

Up to 136 for—

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Up to 136 for the first official language.

How many levels are there? Nine?

[Maia Welbourne]

There are more than nine levels.

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

For the most advanced level, our programs require level seven, but individuals who have achieved levels nine through 12 get 136 points. People who know the second language, either English or French, can get another 24 points.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lotbinière—Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, QC]

In the context of your department's strategy to achieve 4% francophone immigration, are you targeting specific countries or do you have a larger pool of countries likely to supply francophone immigrants?

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

First of all, we want francophones from anywhere in the world. Theoretically, there are no francophones on the planet who would not be allowed to apply. With that in mind, we want people from Africa, Europe, Asia and so on.

Second, we are looking closely at where francophones have been coming from for the past few years. They have been coming from France, Algeria, West Africa, and more and more from Congo and Senegal. There are also other francophone countries in Europe.

That said, we also need to consider francophones in Canada who are outside Quebec and whose status is temporary. I mean students and temporary workers. We need to encourage those who meet the program criteria to change their status and become permanent residents.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Okay, thank you.

We'll turn now to Ms. St-Denis.

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Minister Alexander, I want to come back to the question Mr. Nicholls asked you regarding Destination Canada.

In 2012, funding for Destination Canada was cut. The 2006 strategic plan to foster immigration to francophone minority communities was not renewed. On September 30, 2014, the government eliminated the Francophone Significant Benefit program, which was designed to simplify the hiring process. Yes, you did create Express Entry, but some of the witnesses who appeared before the committee, including those from the FCFA, told us that that program does not really benefit francophone communities that immigrate here.

All of the witnesses who appeared before us seemed to say that francophone populations are dwindling in OLMCs. Do you have any programs or strategies for curbing this decline?

This initiative does not seem very effective. The witnesses told us that, yes, people are selected to come here, but there are no programs to foster their integration into francophone environments.

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Ms. St-Denis, those kinds of programs really do exist.

About three or four years ago, the government started by funding five or six francophone immigration networks, but they did not cover the whole country. There was a network here, in the Ottawa region, as well as in northern Ontario and in Acadia, but there were none in the other provinces. In addition, those networks were not as strong as they are today. We have significantly increased funding to those networks.

There are now nearly 300 points of service that are funded through 72 francophone agencies, which are part of 13 francophone immigration networks. Francophone immigrants can go anywhere in Canada and find services. I have seen such services in Saint-Boniface and Vancouver.

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Perhaps, but—

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

Even in Ajax, in my riding, the only schools that have been built recently have been francophone schools or French immersion schools, which are part of the French school board. My colleague, Mr. Chisu, can confirm this. I am therefore much more optimistic than you are in that regard.

I myself was born into an anglophone family in which no one spoke French, but I now consider myself a francophone. I promote francophone living and our identity in Canada, even in Toronto and Ajax.

That is why we are funding that. I would agree that we have not achieved all of our objectives. We want 5,000 francophone immigrants, or even 10,000 if possible, if we take into account all Canadian immigration, and not just economic immigration. We now have the tools to achieve this: Express Entry, francophone immigration networks, a strategy under our Roadmap, as well as political will, which is perhaps the most important factor. Since 2006, we have been surpassing previous results and we will continue to do so.

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

I have a question for you regarding federal public servants.

Everyone knows that federal public servants earn a good living. They have good working conditions and a good pension. Are you satisfied with the francophone presence in the various departments, and especially your own?

If you call certain offices, people sometimes answer only in English. We could be doing more to integrate francophones into the public service or to simply require that people be bilingual. That is not currently a requirement. There are many departments in which French is not spoken.

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

We do not require that for every position, but that is often a requirement. We expect French to be spoken and services to be available in French.

I forgot to mention the Francophone Significant Benefit program. It was a temporary worker program that brought in only a few hundred every year. It was important to give Canadians priority in this market. That is why we reviewed all of our temporary worker programs.

We hope to bring in thousands of francophone immigrants. I don't mean temporary workers, but rather permanent immigrants. In my department, 30% of employees are francophone and 70% are anglophone, and this department does not administer immigration programs for Quebec. Yes, we need to strengthen our ability to increase francophone immigration to a level never before seen in the rest of Canada, but we are definitely working on it.

I worked at Foreign Affairs, and I always felt comfortable speaking in either official language. Yes, there are some gaps at times, and we need to keep an eye on those, but we have the best public service in the world when it comes to having two official languages. We also have the best Parliament. We are highly regarded in terms of our interpreters' skills and the systems that allow us to work in the official language of our choice.

[Lise St-Denis, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Should all of our federal institutions be the subject of an ad campaign on the importance of what you said about official language minority communities? Would it not be worth investing money in ads on the importance of linguistic duality across Canada?

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you, Ms. St-Denis.

Mr. Alexander, you may answer the question.

[Chris Alexander, Conservative, Ajax—Pickering, ON]

We must always ensure that everything that Canada represents is well advertised.

I was in India a few months ago. Someone there asked me whether it was true that we speak English in Canada. Someone in India thought that Canada was a Francophone country. This is not a common perception, but it does exist even as far away as India.

I can tell you that advertising is done. It is present and it reaches our immigrants and our newcomers here in Canada. I see it in Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, and other places. Immigrants are determined to ensure that their children speak French, even if English is the primary language spoken at home.

[The Chair, Conservative, Michael Chong]

Thank you.

Mr. Williamson, you have the floor.