I think that Francophone immigration is affected by default, since the students are already attending our schools. I believe that the government’s true intention was laudable, wanting to ensure that there would be no interruption of services. However, that’s not what we’re seeing on a day-to-day basis.
Of course, we can’t blame the provinces and territories for waiting until the money is in their coffers before renewing funding. It’s that hiatus, that transition period, that’s particularly difficult.
Administrators faced a heartbreaking decision: they had to choose between letting some of their staff go in order to balance the budget, or continuing to employ these people. In the end, they decided to keep the staff, even if it meant running a deficit. It was a leap of faith; the thinking was that the money would follow, but—