We will try to answer all your questions.
We are pleased to be appearing today before the committee in connection with your study on the roadmap and immigration in the francophone minority communities.
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Stefanie Beck, Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Services and Official Languages Champion at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. I am accompanied today by Jennifer Irish, Corporate Secretary, and Jean Viel, Director of IRCC's Official Languages Secretariat.
The committee has questions on the secretariat's role and mandate within our department, and on how its activities fit in with our obligations and priorities regarding immigration in francophone minority communities, or FMCs, and support for their development and vitality.
First of all, I would point out that, in cooperation with other federal departments, the provinces, the territories, and community stakeholders, IRCC seeks to foster a migration of permanent and temporary residents that strengthens Canada's economy, ensure newcomers' successful integration, and facilitate their participation, along with that of citizens, in fostering an integrated society.
Thus, one of IRCC's core principles is to ensure that Canada's regions, including official language minority communities, reap the economic and social benefits of immigration, including francophone immigration.
Since 2002 this commitment has been entrenched in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, which stipulates that IRCC must support and assist the development of official language minority communities in Canada and support the commitment of the Government of Canada to enhance the vitality of the English and French linguistic minority communities. As you know, this is in part VII of the OLA.
IRCC is determined to maintain and strengthen the vitality of francophone minority communities, or FMCs, through immigration. Since 2003 our department has undertaken initiatives to promote immigration to FMCs, and worked to position immigration strategically in the various multi-year official languages plans of the Government of Canada.
Using the funding earmarked for IRCC in the road map, the department created an official languages secretariat in 2014 with a view to helping build internal coordination and awareness of the department's official language obligations and activities, in connection with part VII of the act.
To ensure horizontal coordination of quality and strategic positioning within the department's governance structure, the official languages secretariat is located within IRCC's corporate secretariat, which reports directly to our deputy minister.
The Official Languages Secretariat has a three-pronged mandate.
First, the secretariat must ensure a strategic approach and a centralized coordination of IRCC's efforts in relation to Part VII of the Official Languages Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. It is the Human Resources Branch, however, that is charged with coordination of IRCC's activities and obligations under Parts IV, V and VI of the Official Languages Act.
Second, the secretariat supports me in my role as official languages champion as well as the department's other senior officials during awareness activities.
The secretariat's third and final key role is to manage the governance structure between IRCC and the francophone minority communities as well as that of the department's steering committee on official languages.
The secretariat also coordinates certain activities within the department, including celebrations involving the official languages. Examples include Linguistic Duality Day, National Francophone Immigration Week, and Journée de reflexion en immigration francophone [day of reflection on francophone immigration].
I would point out, however, that the secretariat is not the only entity responsible for implementing the Official Languages Act within IRCC. Just as with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, all sectors of the department have responsibility for applying the various parts of this act when developing their activities or policies. This is a shared responsibility. Obviously, we can also count on our legal services team to help us interpret these statutes.
Lastly, at the interdepartmental level, the Official Languages Secretariat is called upon to contribute according to the needs identified in the context of the interdepartmental coordination led by Canadian Heritage, and in particular by its coordinators network, when it comes to implementing Part VII.
If you will allow me, at this time I would like to delve into a little more detail on the role and mandate of the IRCC-FMC committee. The primary mission of the committee is to facilitate coordination amongst these essential elements: IRCC's initiatives, including the immigration pillar components of the road map for official languages; the communities' initiatives themselves; and the efforts of the other federal, provincial, territorial, and local stakeholders aimed at fostering the development of FMCs and targeting economic immigration.
To that end, we have tasked ourselves with: determining the strategic policies shared between IRCC and the communities to promote francophone immigration within the FMCs; fostering interdepartmental and intergovernmental coordination in the area of francophone immigration; mobilizing key players to improve the FMCs' reception, or welcoming capacity, and to strengthen the reception and settlement structures for French-speaking newcomers; and ensuring the social and cultural integration of French-speaking immigrants into Canadian and FMC societies.
The committee meets twice a year, and in my capacity as official languages champion I co-chair the meetings along with the chair of the National Community Table on Francophone Immigration, whom I think you have met at this meeting. As I mentioned earlier, the secretariat also maintains a dialogue with the Quebec Community Groups Network.
As you are aware, Mr. Chairman, under the Canada-Quebec agreement of 1991, the Government of Quebec has control over immigration selection and is responsible for providing settlement and integration services to all permanent residents destined for Quebec. However, this does not prevent us from maintaining a dialogue on how to coordinate our efforts in order to better ensure the development of Quebec's English-speaking communities.
In addition to research activities on Quebec's English-speaking activities carried out in recent years by the department, the secretariat recently organized a meeting with the leaders of the QCGN in Montreal. This very positive meeting enabled us to forge closer ties with this organization, and laid the groundwork for increased co-operation, especially in the area of community engagement practices.
In closing, since its founding, the Official Languages Secretariat has helped strengthen relations with the department's various branches involved in the francophone immigration continuum in the FMCs, paving the way for ongoing dialogue and a proactive approach to implementing the Official Languages Act and the objectives of Part VII of this act.
This is notably reflected in the establishment of IRCC's priorities in connection with the Government of Canada's upcoming multi-year official languages plan.
And on that note, Mr. Chairman, we would be pleased to answer your questions.