Official Languages Committee on Oct. 29th, 2024

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

Yes, okay, but what's the difference? Sorry, but I don't have much time. What differences have these questions revealed? What makes our current data so rich?

[Éric Caron-Malenfant]

We can give planners, such as municipalities, detailed information.

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

What type of information? What came out?

[Éric Caron-Malenfant]

We can determine the number of eligible children per community, for example.

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

Is it a much higher number of children?

[Éric Caron-Malenfant]

The estimated number of eligible children is 900,000. This includes 600,000 in Canada outside Quebec and around 300,000 in Quebec.

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

What were the previous figures?

[Éric Caron-Malenfant]

We didn't used to have information on the three criteria set out in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

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

So the number is high.

How many more students does this potentially amount to?

[Éric Caron-Malenfant]

Good question.

We already had information on attendance, but—

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

I would like to bring up another issue. Sorry to interrupt, but I don't have much time. Nevertheless, I would like to thank you for your answers.

I want to know what you mean by a data ecosystem. Could you explain this to me, please? I know that you find this quite important.

[Josée Bégin]

When we talk about a data ecosystem, we mean a set of data. We can obtain additional information from other sources to perhaps better understand the environment.

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

Thank you. Good answer.

What type of analysis could you provide using this data ecosystem?

[Éric Caron-Malenfant]

For example, we've already been able to publish analyses of the distance between the homes of eligible children and the nearest French‑language schools.

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

Good.

[Éric Caron-Malenfant]

The upcoming new survey will also give us information on parents' intentions, meaning whether and why they plan to enrol their children in a minority language school. If parents enrolled their children in a majority language school, we can also find out why. This type of analysis can also be carried out.

We're also assessing the feasibility of producing projections to get an idea of how many children will be eligible in the future. This also falls within the scope of analyses or analytical products that could be developed regarding eligible children.

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

These are many new aspects.

[Éric Caron-Malenfant]

Yes.

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

Good.

I'll now move on to my next question.

Does the data on the children of rights holders meet the criteria established in case law for assessing both current and potential demand?

[Éric Caron-Malenfant]

Good question.

The information available in the data ecosystem is multi‑faceted. First, it tells us the number of eligible children, meaning the children entitled to attend a minority language school under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The available information also tells us how many eligible children are actually enrolled in the programs. It's a smaller number, of course. Somewhere in between, the new survey will tell us how many parents of rights holders plan to enrol their children in a minority language school. Since some parents may not plan to do so, this figure could fall somewhere in between the total number of eligible children and the number of actual enrolments. The data ecosystem helps us to quantify these three scenarios.

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

Thank you.

Are you referring to a survey conducted by you or a survey commissioned by Canadian Heritage?

[Éric Caron-Malenfant]

It's the survey on the official language minority population. It concerns francophones outside Quebec and anglophones in Quebec.

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

Who commissioned the survey?

[Éric Caron-Malenfant]

Canadian Heritage.

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

Will it be published shortly?