Official Languages Committee on Sept. 29th, 2016

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

Would it possible to publish the answers provided by Mr. Paul and Ms. Chartrand, as though there were part of the record of proceedings?

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

I think so.

[The Clerk of the Committee, Ms. Christine Holke]

There will have to be a motion to that effect.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Do you agree that the answers should also be published?

[Some hon. members]

Okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

(Motion agreed to)

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Once again, thank you very much for your presentation.

We will take a five-minute break before moving on to the next group of witnesses.

[The Chair]

Let us return to our study of the roadmap and immigration in francophone minority communities.

I am very pleased to welcome representatives from the Réseau de développement économique et d'employabilité Canada, Mr. Jean-Guy Bigeau, its president and executive director.

Welcome, Mr. Bigeau.

Also with us is Ms. Roukya Abdi-Aden, the national cooperation administrator.

Welcome to you as well, Ms. Abdi-Aden.

The rules for our proceedings are as follows. You will have ten minutes to make a presentation. We will then have a questions and comments period.

We will begin by spending 10 minutes on the roadmap. We will then have 10 minutes for immigration.

Mr. Bigeau, you have the floor.

[Jean-Guy Bigeau, President, Executive Director, Réseau de développement économique et d'employabilité (RDEE) Canada]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Hello, everyone. I would like to thank the members of the Standing Committee on Official Languages for inviting us here today.

My name is Jean-Guy Bigeau and I am the president and executive director of the Réseau de développement économique et d'employabilité, ou RDEE, of Canada. It is a non-profit organization that has more than 160 employees and experts and that has a presence in every province and territory.

As we mark our 20th anniversary in 2017, our network continues to be the leader and advocate for economic development and employability in francophone and Acadian minority communities in Canada.

We are here today primarily to talk to you about the government's roadmap for official languages and, more specifically, the issue of francophone immigration in minority communities. That part will be covered by my colleague, Ms. Abdi-Aden.

What has the current roadmap allowed us to do? Under the 2013-18 roadmap, RDEE Canada received total funding of $69 million over five years. While this might seem like a substantial amount at first, we must remember that it is used to fund all the network's activities, in every province and territory.

Nonetheless, stable, long-term funding like this allows us to undertake innovative projects over several years and to offer a range of services to francophone minority communities. The results of these activities are concrete and tangible.

For example, it has allowed us to help francophone entrepreneurs draft and develop business plans; to support market studies; to help businesses with expansion, acquisition and succession; and to support young entrepreneurs and business networks.

We also have more specific projects, such as the creation of day camps for francophone youth in the territories; the development of green practices for small francophone municipalities in western Canada; the retention of young workers in the maritime provinces through exciting placement programs or through tourism development for local businesses.

Although the enabling fund for official language minority communities is flexible enough to allow us to tailor our activities to the needs of francophone and Acadian communities, the program's parameters are nonetheless for a very specific niche. In the next roadmap, it would be interesting to create funding envelopes similar to the enabling fund for other departments, specifically, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Small Business and Tourism, and Environment and Climate Change Canada. These departments could then ratify partnerships with representative organizations such as ours in order to offer all the necessary services to minority communities.

Moreover, RDEE Canada published two documents in the past year pertaining to your committee's study, specifically, the white book on economic prosperity in francophone and Acadian communities, as well a Canadian economic development plan for official language minority communities. If you are interested, we would be pleased to share these documents with the committee after this presentation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

We are interested.

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

Yes, we are interested.

[Jean-Guy Bigeau]

Now let us turn specifically to the next roadmap.

Francophone and Acadian communities or FACs across the country have evolved considerably in the past decade, but not all in the same way. Very little research is done on the economy of official language minority communities, or OLMCs. As a result, little data is available, and return on investment analyses are very difficult to obtain.

Yet the world's francophone communities make up a considerable economic space. With a presence in 33 countries and representing 6.5% of the worlds's population, these communities contribute 8.4% of the world's GDP, and account for 11% of agricultural land and 6% of energy reserves.

Based on the footprint calculated by Statistics Canada, the multiplier of the francophone economic space is 1.52. In other words, each GDP value from Canada's francophone economic space contributes $1.52 to Canada's GDP.

Unfortunately, in 2011, OLMCs accounted for just 6% of Canada's total population, a 3% drop since 1971. As a result, there are big gaps between what businesses need and the availability of labour with the required skills. Business owners in Canada are aging and do not necessarily have succession plans. This is especially true in FACs and is a crucial issue for the survival of both the businesses and the communities.

Similarly, Canada has 153,000 francophone immigrants who are already settled in each province and territory outside of Quebec. Yet there is a glaring problem in matching economic immigrants' skills with employers' needs.

This is also an issue in the youth economy. It has become increasingly complicated for our youth to overcome barriers to employment and to acquire the skills, work experience, and abilities required to make a successful transition to the labour market. Youth migration and specifically the exodus from rural communities is also an issue of growing concern. Priority should therefore be given to projects that encourage youth to remain in the regions for the long term.

Growth and development inevitably depend on national projects focusing on a range of services to support youth. What is needed in particular are partnerships with youth business; a job-readiness cybermentoring program; more work placements for youth before they make career choices; and measures to support family succession and the creation of new businesses.

Moreover, it is estimated that the green economy will account for 2.1% of the world's GDP by 2020, so job creation in this sector and stimulating economic growth in order to preserve resources and support individuals are indispensable. This is why technical support for francophone and bilingual communities that are seeking solutions would be a long-term investment. It is clear that the greening of local economies is not only necessary for the environment, but is also an interesting avenue for stimulating growth and prosperity in these communities.

The lack of access to French-language early childhood services in francophone minority communities is also a serious challenge for the survival of the language. Since the majority of children spend much of their early years in daycare, a French-language environment is essential for the development of their identity. Infrastructure is either out of date or non-existent. This is combined with the high cost of rent, the labour shortage, the difficulty recruiting skilled workers, and the lack of stable, long-term funding. These are the three pillars that have to be consolidated.

Based on the Bisson study conducted in 2012 on the impact of investments in early childhood on the economic vitality of francophone communities, one can reasonably conclude that there is a total of between 44,000 and 77,000 children under the age of five who might use French-language early childhood services in minority communities in Canada.

Finally, given that the tourism industry is continually changing and modernizing, there are incredible opportunities for FACs to offer attractive and competitive tourism products and to deploy related marketing efforts.

In 2016, tourism accounted for 2% of Canada's GDP and helped sustain more than 170,000 companies and close to 627,000 jobs. The international French-language market could potentially represent 200 million national and international visitors, travelling for pleasure or business. By providing more structure for French-language and bilingual tourism products across Canada, we could better meet market and client needs, while increasing the competitiveness of the destination and of French-language and bilingual products.

We therefore recommend that a program be created for the development and marketing of innovative French-language and bilingual tourist products, in order to make them more appealing and competitive.

Thank you for your attention. I will be pleased to answer your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Denis Paradis]

Thank you, Mr. Bigeau.

We will beginwith the questions and comments immediately.

You have the floor, Mr. Généreux.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Mr. Bigeau and Ms. Abdi-Aden.

I have been a businessman for more than 25 years. My operations are in an area I would describe as rural, the La Pocatière area, in the Lower St. Lawrence. We are facing a serious labour shortage in this sector right now.

You are saying that, in francophone minority communities, there are also serious labour shortages. That is what I understand. From among the programs and the $60 million you have received in the past five years, are certain amounts specifically invested in looking for workers?

How do you proceed in this regard right now?

[Jean-Guy Bigeau]

Yes, definitely.

That is a good question. Our network is not just in Quebec; it also extends beyond Quebec. In communities, our network focuses on identifying as many job opportunities as possible.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

I assume those jobs are primarily for francophones.

[Jean-Guy Bigeau]

They are primarily for francophones or bilingual job seekers. Our objective is of course to find people in the francophone community, but we often looks for bilingual people in very specific sectors.

We share expertise from one province to another. We also share training and information. With respect to francophone immigration, we also match immigrants' skills with market needs.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

I would like to go back to my initial question about the $60 million you have received.

Can you tell us quickly what percent of your overall budget is devoted to this specific issue?

I am asking because $60 million is quite a bit of money. You said earlier that it seems like a lot but that it could be higher for the whole of Canada. Everyone can always use more money. Personally, I think this is a critical issue. We have to be able to promote integration through networks or through the funding that we allocate to Canadian Heritage and to Canada as a whole. This is linked with immigration. Newcomers represent the workforce of tomorrow. Let there be no mistake: we are not having more children in Canada.

You mentioned accountability earlier and I completely agree with you. How can we ensure that the money spent really goes to the right places where we have to integrate newcomers? How can these people be integrated into the labour market?

Does your organization spend a significant percent of its money on that?

[Jean-Guy Bigeau]

I would say that the majority of the funding we receive goes to labour, looking for and placing workers. There are five main areas of activity in our network: tourism, francophone immigration, the youth economy, the green economy, of course, and services to businesses and entrepreneurship. In all of these sectors, we always strive to meet labour needs.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

At the end of your presentation, you mentioned tourism. You mentioned placing more emphasis on bilingual tourism.

To my knowledge, the tourism dollars that are spent in Canada right now serve both official languages. Would you like to see a greater emphasis on French-language tourism outside Quebec? Is that what you are saying?

[Jean-Guy Bigeau]

Yes.

I will let Ms. Abdi-Aden answer your question. Among other things, she is responsible for the tourism sector in our organization.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

So she is a specialist in that area.

[Roukya Abdi-Aden, Administrator, National Cooperation, Réseau de développement économique et d'employabilité (RDEE) Canada]

I am not a specialist, but ...

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

You almost are.

[Roukya Abdi-Aden]

I have learned about it.

The money spent on tourism in Canada goes toward marketing. You are familiar with Destination Canada, the organization responsible for tourism marketing.