Official Languages Committee on March 28th, 2022

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Good afternoon, everyone.

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 12 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, and members are attending in person or using the Zoom application.

Given the ongoing pandemic situation and in light of the recommendations from health authorities, to remain healthy and safe, all those attending the meeting in person should follow the directives of the Board of Internal Economy.

I thank members in advance for their cooperation.

A reminder to everyone, when speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. When those participating virtually are not speaking, their mic should be on mute.

Should any technical challenges arise, please advise me. Please note that we may need to suspend for a few minutes to ensure that all members are able to participate fully.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f) and the motion adopted by the committee on Monday, January 31, 2022, the committee is resuming its study on francophone immigration to Canada and Quebec.

I would now like to welcome the witnesses. We have the Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship; Caroline Xavier, Associate Deputy Minister; Alexandra Hiles, Director General, Domestic Network; and Corinne Prince, Director General, Afghanistan Settlement.

A maximum of five minutes will be given to you, Minister, for your speech, after which we will proceed to a series of questions, as you know. I'll let you know when you have about a minute left.

Minister Fraser, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Chair and honourable members.

Francophone immigration, both within and outside of Quebec, remains a top priority for the Government of Canada.

The Government of Canada recognizes that immigration is key to meet labour market needs in critical sectors like healthcare and agriculture, and to help develop and diversify Canadian communities.

The Government of Canada continues to work with the Government of Quebec to support their efforts to use immigration to address labour market needs, particularly as we recover from the economic impact of COVID‑19.

We're going to continue to work with Quebec on innovative ways to use immigration to address the province's labour shortages while also supporting the French language and Quebec's distinct francophone identity.

Of course, the French language is deeply rooted in communities across Canada, not just in the province of Quebec. We recognize that immigration plays an important role in supporting the vitality of francophone minority communities throughout the country.

In 2019, IRCC, in consultation with key francophone stakeholders like the Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada, announced their comprehensive francophone immigration strategy, which included a target of achieving 4.4% of permanent resident admissions from French-speaking applicants by 2023.

And we recognized that it would take some time to achieve. Since we launched the strategy, it has yielded positive results. In 2020, French-speaking admissions represented 3.6% of all immigrants admitted to Canada outside of Quebec, up from 2.8% the previous year.

Yes, in 2021, we experienced a decline to 2% of admissions, due largely to the global pandemic. But the department is making substantial efforts to return to our pre-pandemic admission rates. For example, we are awarding additional points to French-speaking and bilingual candidates in our Express Entry pool.

Given the pandemic's impact on international travel, last year we introduced a new pathway to permanent residence for temporary workers and international graduates already in Canada. This included three additional streams for French-speaking or bilingual newcomers, and as of late January, there were more 6,400 applications included in these streams.

We're also pursuing year-round targeted promotional activities in Canada and abroad, including initiatives to attract more French-speaking immigrants to health-related occupations, and also to work as French language and immersion teachers.

Complementing all of these efforts, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or IRCC, is working to support the Government’s commitment to modernize the Official Languages Act.

The bill introduced by my colleague Minister Petitpas Taylor recognizes the importance of immigration and proposes a policy on Francophone immigration with clear objectives and indicators.

Immigration is more than numbers; there is a considerable amount of settlement work to be done with—and for—newcomers.

In 2019-20, IRCC implemented the francophone integration pathway, which offers tailored support to French-speaking newcomers from pre-arrival through to citizenship. This approach aims to strengthen the resettlement and settlement services offered by and for francophone organizations.

The Government will continue its efforts to build up the Francophone Integration Pathway, so that French-speaking newcomers are adequately informed of the possibilities of settling in French in Canada and receive quality settlement services by Francophone organizations.

So, we continue working with the Francophone communities to give all newcomers an opportunity to settle and thrive in French and to make a positive contribution to Canadian society.

Francophone and bilingual newcomers are essential to our future.

Significant efforts are made every year in Francophone countries to promote and attract Francophone students and immigrants to Canada, and those efforts will continue.

My colleagues and I would be pleased to answer the committee’s questions.

I look forward to the session today.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Bravo, Minister! You were very efficient and delivered your speech in four minutes.

We will now go to the first round of questions. Each of the parties will have six minutes.

We will begin with Joël Godin, who may be sharing his speaking time with Mr. Lehoux.

Mr. Godin, go ahead for six minutes.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. If possible, I'd like you to warn me when my four minutes have elapsed so I can yield to my colleague Mr. Lehoux.

Minister, thank you for being with us today. We are grateful that you've agreed to take part in this exercise.

You said in your speech that you were developing an immigration policy to attract more francophone immigrants. That policy doesn't seem to be working given the results we've achieved.

We urgently need francophone immigrants. Can you reassure us that measures will be taken in the coming weeks and months to rectify the situation?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Thank you for your question.

Some measures have produced positive results, although overall improvements of the francophone immigration system may vary.

According to data for 2019, 1.8% of all newcomers settled in Quebec. We subsequently made changes and awarded additional points in the express entry system, and the number of francophone immigrants reached 3.6% in 2020.

I'm trying to improve the express entry system's flexibility so we can select more francophone applicants who want to come to Canada and support the people working in the institutions.

In English, just to make sure that I'm clear—you can tell I've been working a bit at it—there are a number of policies we have advanced that have shown a positive difference. If we go further down those paths that we've seen to be successful and also introduce new flexibility with express entry, new measures for international students and a number of other measures, I'm confident, as we develop this full strategy, that we will see positive improvement.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Thank you, Minister.

I can tell you that I have a potential solution if you're looking for ways to increase francophone immigration: the African continent. The immigration applications of nearly 80% of francophones from Africa are denied, and those people want to come and work in Canada. There's a problem with the way the system operates, and it urgently needs to be corrected.

That would also help increase the francophone immigration rate here in Canada and provide an incredible source of labour. People are prepared to come and work here. You'd be killing two birds with one stone.

What's going on with the immigration applications of francophones from Africa?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

I entirely agree with you. Africa offers major opportunities for francophone immigration to Canada.

As regards foreign students from West Africa and the Ivory Coast, the acceptance rate for francophone immigrants isn't as high as I would like.

I've seen real progress when we've taken tailored situations to meet the needs of specific countries. When I look at the student direct stream, for example, with countries such as Morocco or Senegal, I see that the students who applied through these streams have seen a significant increase, and faster results in their application as well.

I don't think the policy work is done, because when I look at certain criteria around the proof of funds that a person has to demonstrate or the—

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Pardon me for interrupting, Minister.

I just want to focus on the Dakar region in Senegal, which is a hub in that part of the world.

Would you please explain how applications are processed? The entire process is centralized in Dakar, Senegal, but then where do those applications go?

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Mr. Godin, you've already used four minutes of your speaking time.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

You're asking about the process after someone submits an application. After they would submit an application, presuming it's a complete application, an IRCC officer would have to examine whether they meet the criteria to come to Canada. Of course, it depends which stream they apply to come to Canada through. If they would meet the criteria, an IRCC officer would be able to approve them.

We see something unique, though, and it's not specific to francophone or anglophone applications, in certain countries in Africa that have lower rates of approval. It's something on which, if the committee wants to provide advice, I would welcome—

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Pardon me once again for interrupting, Minister, but I have a very specific question.

What I want to know about Africa is where applications are sent once processing has been done in Dakar.

Are they sent to Canada for follow‑up or somewhere else?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

It's not necessarily the same in every situation. In fact, I'm looking to make further changes to leverage the capacity of the system.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

I'm talking about the Dakar region.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Certainly, there would be folks in Dakar who could be involved. Sometimes it could be moved to a different location. I hear that some people have sensitivities, wanting a local person to look at local applications—

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

More specifically, Minister, where are the applications sent?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

It would depend on the specific application. If you'd like to have a summary after the meeting on how applications—

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

If possible, I'd like the members of your team to send us a detailed document describing every twist and turn in the path the applications take. I would appreciate that.

I'm going to continue because my colleague Mr. Lehoux is giving me the rest of his speaking time. I thank him for his generosity.

You mentioned Bill C‑13 and said you're satisfied with what the bill provides on francophone immigration policy.

Pardon me, Minister, but that policy boils down to two paragraphs: “The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration shall adopt a policy on francophone immigration…”

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you, Mr. Godin. You'll be able to speak again in the next round of questions.

Ms. Kayabaga, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

First, I'd like to thank Minister Fraser, who's appearing before this committee for the fourth or fifth time to discuss immigration.

Minister, I very much appreciate your dedication to our work, particularly on francophone immigration, an issue that's been the subject of extensive discussion in this committee.

I will start with this question. We are all watching with great concern what is happening in Ukraine. Of course, we want to ensure that people who are displaced by the war can quickly get to a safe place here in Canada. That said, there are expectations that the situation in Ukraine will delay processing of applications from French speakers coming from other parts of the world.

Can you speak on that?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Certainly. Thank you, Ms. Kayabaga, for the question.

First of all, I think we all agree that the situation in Ukraine merits a significant response, given the scale of this unjust and unnecessary war of aggression. One of the things we wanted to do was to move as quickly as possible. We established a system that was based on the way in which we bring visitors to Canada. That system has the greatest horsepower in terms of the number of applications that we have the ability to process each year.

It's important that we make sure that we properly fund these changes. If we don't, we're asking the same system to do more without extra resources. To date, there's been $117 million of additional funding profiled to make sure that we are backstopping this new system with the funds necessary to deal with the volume. In the short term, it's possible that we could have some resources pivoting from one stream of business, or even different departments, to help out with this effort. We intend to have the funding come into place to make sure that we can pay for these new services that we're offering so that we avoid the kind of circumstance to the extent possible that you've just signalled.

Certainly, there is no decision to pull away from people who would impact francophone applications specifically. If anything, I would try desperately to avoid that situation.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Minister, on that note, can you comment on what IRCC is doing to track delays caused by pandemic-related border closures? Are they getting back on track?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Just for context, the pandemic really hit Canada's immigration system very hard in two ways. In some parts of the world, it shut down our presence on the ground due to local public health restrictions, and we don't have the same flexibility in every location in the world to allow staff to work from home as we do in Canada.

The second thing it caused was a need to pivot towards welcoming people who were already here on a temporary basis and who were seeking to become permanent residents instead of bringing people from other countries during a time when the border was closed for public health reasons, which I think are now obvious to all of us here.

We are doing a number of things, which I can put into three categories, to address this: resources, technology and immigration levels spaces.

On the resources front, we've added more than 500 staff who are now working, with $85 million from the economic and fiscal update as it's being deployed across mostly a range of temporary businesses.

On digitization, the technology piece I mentioned, we're on the verge of releasing new functionalities within the modern and digital systems. Some of them have come online already. Just in the interest of time, I'll say that we've added immigration levels spaces so we can welcome more people this year to chip away at the numbers of those who might be waiting to come to Canada.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Thank you.

Federal, provincial and territorial ministers responsible for immigration and those responsible for the Canadian francophonie adopted a federal-provincial-territorial action plan to increase francophone immigration outside of Quebec.

Can you speak to what this plan consists of and what francophones in a francophone minority setting can expect to see out of this plan?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

I think it's key that we increase the number of francophone newcomers to protect and promote the French language and culture. The plan includes a target of francophone newcomers representing 4.4% of immigration across the country for 2023.

The measures include considerable support for agencies that provide settlement services in addition to the changes made to the express entry program. It's essential that we continue implementing new measures in future.

The things I'm looking at right now include some of the changes we've talked about with regard to international students, including around changes to the express entry system to give us more flexibility. I want to make sure that we don't prejudge further conversations that I intend to have with groups like FCFA, for example, to make sure they are part of the development of the new measures that we'll introduce. But I think if we keep pushing the envelope, we can bring more and more to better protect the demographic weight of francophones in Canada.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

I'd like to single out a few points that witnesses have raised. Francophones encounter many barriers, one of which is the French test. This is a major problem as these people, who live and study in French and speak French, don't pass the test.

Would you be prepared to make changes to the test?