Evidence of meeting #67 for Official Languages in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was veronis.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Marc Serré Liberal Nickel Belt, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I only have three minutes, so I'll be quick.
Mr. Normand, in your presentation, your second recommendation was about creating a permanent support fund whose criteria respect provincial areas of jurisdiction.
Can you tell us about those criteria and the process you have in mind?
Director, Strategic Research and International Relations, Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne
As we see it, many of the activities that take place within post-secondary institutions come under federal jurisdiction. We think a permanent fund of this kind could apply to those activities, one of which is francophone immigration, a shared responsibility. The federal government wants to play a lead role on that. A new permanent fund would be one way to take action on that front. For example, what would enable post-secondary institutions to boost their capacity to bring in, retain and train international clients?
The Government of Canada has set targets for individual bilingualism. Studies clearly show that the rate of retention for French is better among people who attend francophone post-secondary institutions, so let's make sure there are post-secondary institutions that function in French. That's one way to help people maintain and function in French in a professional context once they exit post-secondary institutions.
Those are just two of many examples. There are other federal jurisdictions in which the government wants to take action. For example, it wants to do something about the teacher shortage. Canadian Heritage has programs for that even though it's a provincial responsibility. The federal government defined it as a provincial responsibility, but there are probably other areas where that kind of action could be contemplated.
Liberal
Marc Serré Liberal Nickel Belt, ON
Mr. Normand, as you know, at the end of June, the Province of Ontario rejected the Université de Sudbury's “by and for” vision. Yes, that's a provincial file, but what solutions would you recommend to the federal government concerning the Université de Sudbury's plans to create a “by and for” institution in Ontario's near north?
Director, Strategic Research and International Relations, Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne
I won't comment on Sudbury in particular, but I will say that the federal government could set up federal-provincial-territorial round tables with post-secondary institutions to help all levels of government and those institutions coordinate their francophone post-secondary education efforts.
Currently, there's no way for the provinces, the federal government and the institutions to talk about francophone post-secondary education. That would be a really great way for all parties to coordinate their efforts and avoid some of the unpleasant surprises that could crop up along the way.
Conservative
Bloc
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Earlier, you gave an example of how to improve funding structures in favour of francophone universities. You talked about how the biggest universities benefit from economies of scale.
Have you come up with other suggestions for criteria?
Director, Strategic Research and International Relations, Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne
One consideration is teaching materials. In many ways, it's more expensive for post-secondary institutions to operate in French. Teaching materials are one example of that. In general, textbooks in French cost more than English ones.
Francophone post-secondary institutions generally advertise in French and English. Anglophone institutions don't advertise in French—very little, anyway. There are many such differences. Even getting provincial accreditation for new programs requires teaching materials to be translated to ensure evaluation is based on—
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
So, for example, there couldn't be a bonus for Canadian research funding allocated to francophone universities.
Director, Strategic Research and International Relations, Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne
We're not going to get that sorted out in 30 seconds. Research is another one of my files at ACUFC, but there are all kinds of things to look at in terms of positive measures to support research in French in Canada.
I'll stop there for now.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Joël Godin
Thank you.
Do you have any other questions, Mr. Beaulieu? You have 15 seconds left.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Joël Godin
I'll give the rest of your speaking time to Ms. Ashton.
We'll conclude this round of questions with Ms. Ashton. You have 90 seconds.
NDP
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB
I wanted to give Ms. Veronis a chance to answer a question about the education sector specifically.
What advice do you have for us? What can the federal government do to address our needs in this sector specifically?
Associate Professor, University of Ottawa, As an Individual
One thing to consider is jobs for international students. We discussed the English issue. I believe my colleague, Mariève Forest, who was here on Monday, told you about the barriers. Employers are hesitant to hire international students for all kinds of reasons. That makes job hunting harder for them too.
I would agree with what Mr. Normand said about setting up employment-focused settlement, reception and support services.
Improved access to English language training for international students is important too. I think that can encourage bilingualism and make it easier for people to transition to permanent residence. That's not for the education sector per se, but I think it's more focused on international students. I agree with all the examples Mr. Normand provided earlier.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Joël Godin
Thank you very much, Ms. Veronis.
That concludes our questions and witness statements.
I would remind the witnesses that, if they have additional information or documents for us, they can send them to our clerk, who will get them to us.
Ms. Veronis, thank you for being here and participating.
Mr. Normand, it's always a pleasure to see you.
Mr. Viglione, thank you for participating in our meeting via video.
Hon. colleagues, I'll let you know that, during the first hour of our next meeting, we'll continue our study on increasing francophone immigration in Canada. During our second hour, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship will be joining us.
Now I'll check with the committee members to see if they want to adjourn the meeting.
It looks like they do.
The meeting is adjourned.