Official Languages Committee on Sept. 29th, 2016

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Perhaps you could continue by answering the questions of the members of the committee.

[Roukya Abdi-Aden]

Absolutely.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

We have 15 minutes left.

Ms. Boucher, Mr. Samson and Mr. Choquette, you all have five minutes.

We will begin with Ms. Boucher.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Good morning, and welcome.

This was very interesting. Several questions came to my mind.

A little earlier, regarding the five million immigrants, you said that there had been an increase and that there were now 12% outside Quebec. In this 12% group which contains francophones and anglophones, what percentage are French-speaking, according to your figures?

[Roukya Abdi-Aden]

In fact, that is 12% of the entire francophone immigrant community. The increase I was talking about concerned immigrants outside Quebec from 1991 to 2011. During that period, the number of francophone immigrants outside Quebec, in the rest of the country as a whole, went from 6% to 11%.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Fine.

I have several questions.

You also spoke about the difficulty of attracting French-language immigrants to francophone minority communities, of integrating them and finding them work. Some of the immigrants who arrive from other countries already have credentials, diplomas. I am thinking of an immigrant doctor I know in Quebec who now drives a taxi.

Outside of Quebec, are there any provinces that would recognize this immigrant's credentials, given the shortage of doctors?

[Roukya Abdi-Aden]

There are professional corporations everywhere, and they have criteria. Since all of the professions are regulated, newcomers cannot immediately practice their profession, but must go through a process. In certain provinces, the process may be easier than in others, but they certainly need specific support.

That is why we have a replacement career program, so that such people are not lost to jobs like driving taxis. They have to be able to live, they have to work. Rather than letting them drive a taxi, for example, or work at Walmart, they can be guided into replacement careers that can be closer to what they did and can allow them to finance some of the studies they are asked to do, or to acquire training. This could allow immigrants to practice the profession they would like to after a few years. And so we would like to launch a program like that in the future.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Do the immigrants who arrive here gravitate to urban areas, or rural ones?

Can you give me an approximate percentage for both?

[Roukya Abdi-Aden]

The majority of them head for the cities. In fact, 66% of our francophone immigrants outside Quebec arrive in Ontario first. Many of them are in Toronto or Ottawa. However, after we talk with them and introduce the services we offer, they are ready to go elsewhere. In fact, it depends on what they know.

Here is a very good example. One family wanted to go to a certain province. These people took advantage of the services we provided through the Pre-Departure program we put in place last year. After we told them that their professions were in greater demand in another province, they were ready to consider the possibility of going there. Also, there was one family that went to Prince Edward Island because they knew that they could easily be integrated there.

Very often, it is because of a lack of information, support and guidance that immigrants who arrive in the big cities are caught in the process: they settle in, they register their children in school, they find a little job. But employment is important for the family. I think that immigrants are ready to move or to arrive in a different province or a much smaller place. I don't think their minds are closed to the idea of going to less urban areas, if there are jobs there.

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Earlier, you said that it would be advisable to show them, before they arrive, what jobs are available in Canada and where they can go. I am surprised that that is not being done, in 2016. I was under the impression that that was done ahead of time.

Should Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada be heading up this process?

[Roukya Abdi-Aden]

First of all, the francophone Pre-Departure services have only been in place since last year. There were none for francophones previously. We put this program in place last year. We manage the employability aspect and the information on economic integration. We have a funding agreement that will end in March 2018. This program has been in place since last September and works very well. As I was saying, I have concrete examples. However, we have to make sure that it continues.

Indeed, it is essential that immigrants be told where they can go, particularly as regards the labour market, but also in order to be able to access the services that are available in communities. We have to tell them that those services exist in our communities and that they can go to this or that location, because there is a school there, or francophone physicians or an available job.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much, Ms. Boucher.

Mr. Samson, you have the floor.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

I will first give the floor to my colleague. I'll continue after.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Mr. Arya, you have the floor.

[Chandra Arya, Liberal, Nepean, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

You mentioned the problems faced by the adult immigrants with respect to language. I'm quite aware of it, as my wife teaches English as a second language at the Ottawa Catholic School Board here.

My question concerns integration, which you mentioned in your opening remarks. In your opinion, what are the two major challenges faced by francophone immigrants outside of Quebec in terms of integrating?

[Roukya Abdi-Aden]

In fact, even if these issues are becoming less challenging, language training and the recognition of credentials are still problematic for immigrants and francophone communities.

[Chandra Arya, Liberal, Nepean, ON]

You mentioned something about entrepreneurship issues. Again, kindly elaborate in a very short time.

[Roukya Abdi-Aden]

As I was saying, our communities are facing a challenge when it comes to finding a new generation of entrepreneurs. Many francophone business owners have reached retirement age and they need someone to take over. Some francophone immigrants arrive with entrepreneurial projects. Others are not satisfied, do not want traditional or conventional work and want to be independent, and we tell them that they could acquire a business whose owner is close to retirement, or we help them to get closer to business ownership by drawing up business plans and helping them to find financing. We work on that aspect of things.

In fact, many immigrants want to become entrepreneurs.

[Chandra Arya, Liberal, Nepean, ON]

Thank you.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Okay, I will continue.

I really liked your comment that immigrants are like opportunities we have to seize.

I have two questions. I will ask them quickly in the interest of time.

Regarding schooling, what is being done in conjunction with the schools? Does your association have a relationship with the schools? Is there some kind of partnership today?

[Roukya Abdi-Aden]

Very often, you know, there are joint action mechanisms in francophone communities, either at the national level or in the provinces and territories. As I was saying, economic integration is part of the immigration process.

We have issue tables where we sit with other organizations, such as the school boards, among others, in order to ensure, as I was saying, that the children integrate successfully, among other things. For the parent who has a job, we try to see how we can mobilize that adult and offer sustainable employability services.

In Canada, we also have to follow the children in the schools and see how their integration is going. So there is a global plan for each province and territory, where all of the actors work together. Francophone immigration is a societal project. It isn't just a file to be processed. We want to create something

We want to ensure that in all of the communities, whether in the schools or in the health area, these immigrants are integrating with the help of French-language services. Sometimes they may work in English, as francophones do in many provinces and territories. However, they have to develop a sense of belonging to the community. To get there, all of the services the family needs, including school services and economic integration services, have to be available, and all of these organizations have to work together to ensure that the services meet the needs of immigrants.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Mr. Choquette, you have the floor.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Ms. Abdi-Aden, I'd like to talk about the return of the French Significant Benefit Program, now called Mobilité francophone. As you know, previously the French Significant Benefit Program made it possible to attribute more points to economic immigrants who wanted to settle in minority communities. The program has been back for a short time, since the end of summer, if I remember correctly.

I suppose you are very happy that this program has been brought back. Have you already begun to use it and promote it? Are you seeing any effects yet? It's good that it is back, but we also want to see it produce some positive outcomes, if you will.

Can you talk to us a bit about this renewal? How are things going? Do you have the information you need to promote it? Do you have the necessary network to circulate information about the program so as to attract immigrants who could have a positive impact on the economy of minority communities?

[Roukya Abdi-Aden]

Yes, absolutely. We are very pleased that this program is available, and we use it. We provide the information to the employers. When we meet them, the employers tell us that they do not care whether candidates are anglophones or francophones, so long as they have the skills they need. If they have to speak English in the enterprise, that is not a problem. Whether they come from Africa or India is immaterial. Employers are looking for someone.

In addition when we present this other advantage and tell them that with Mobilité francophone, they don't have to do the labour market assessment and the process is much quicker, they get onboard with us straightaway. We promote this and we disseminate this information as widely as possible. For instance, at Destination Canada, which takes place in November in France and Belgium, we bring along Canadian employers to recruit francophone immigrants. However, they come because we have dangled this carrot. They are interested.

The virtual job fair we will be organizing next February is also an essential tool we use so that these businesses can see from their offices that they can recruit competent people, and that in addition they have a significant advantage, as the former name of the program indicates, in the whole process. The immigration process is a headache for employers. They have to pay fees. They need an employee right away or in six months, and not in two or three years. That is always what happens. So this is really an asset.

However, as I was saying, the services have to be in place so that we can go and get these employers and tell them that in addition to all of the advantages, we already have candidates. Preselections have to be carried out to ensure that the candidates are qualified and available. In this way employers can find the skills they need in France or Tunisia, and not only in China.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you very much, Mr. Choquette.

I want to thank you as well, Ms. Abdi-Aden and Mr. Bigeau. This was a very good presentation. I thank you on behalf of the committee.

I would like to mention to committee members that Madam Clerk is continuing her work regarding the witnesses we will be welcoming next Tuesday. For the moment, she is waiting for answers. We cannot tell you yet who will be coming, but the contact work is ongoing according to the priorities we all chose together for the list.

Mr. Généreux, you have the floor.