Official Languages Committee on Nov. 29th, 2023

[Nick Fabiano]

That has never happened in the 10 years that I've been at the agency, although it may have occurred before then.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Do you have a team that focuses more on the economic development of francophone communities?

[Nick Fabiano]

We have a few people who are experts in the field, but they aren't on my team. Their work is auditing businesses and associations. I'd say that one or two employees are more involved with the funds of the economic development initiative, or EDI.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Is the situation more or less the same in your case, Ms. Cousineau? Do you provide direct grants to businesses and to organizations that support businesses?

[Linda Cousineau]

Yes, we do both. We support businesses directly through our programs. We also support organizations that provide services to entrepreneurs and other businesses to help them grow.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Will most of your francophone communities budget go directly to organizations or businesses?

[Linda Cousineau]

I want to make it clear that we support francophone organizations through all our programs. In the EDI program you refer to—

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Joël Godin]

You have 15 seconds left, Mr. Beaulieu.

[Linda Cousineau]

—we have non-profit francophone organizations in the regions to ensure that we maximize results and reach all francophone communities in Ontario.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Joël Godin]

Thank you, Mr. Beaulieu and Ms. Cousineau.

We will now continue with Ms. Ashton for six minutes.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Fabiano and Ms. Cousineau, you've both spoken about your work with newcomers and immigrants to Canada. You've also discussed the fact that our communities put a lot of pressure on them and expect that, given their experience, they will help us educate our children, support our communities or build a better future for the francophonie outside Quebec.

I wonder whether people understand that the lives of newcomers, particularly minority language newcomers, are very hard. Would you please tell us more about the challenges that they report to you and that guide the efforts you make to support them more effectively?

[Nick Fabiano]

Thank you for that question.

As you just said, newcomers and immigrants face major challenges, particularly in rural regions. Matters are slightly more difficult when they're in the linguistic minority.

We try to offer services to provide financial support to organizations in the cities I mentioned and to reduce the obstacles you've described. However, immigrants are more than employees; they have families, which also need support from the communities, and that's sometimes hard to get. Immigrants who work for an organization or business may receive a lot of support, but not their families. This is ultimately a family issue.

I know that, in small northern Ontario communities, for example, people join forces to help both immigrant workers and their families because that really helps them fit into the community. We've done a lot of work in those small communities.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Thank you.

Ms. Cousineau, would you please tell us about the challenges facing newcomers that your organization knows about? Would you also tell us how you try to respond to them in the best possible way?

[Linda Cousineau]

Thank you for your question on newcomers.

Our agency invests in organizations that work with newcomers. We have allocated $3.3 million to the Toronto Business Development Centre. As my colleague explained, it's an organization that helps businesses start up in Canada. Newcomers who arrive with their families are given assistance to create an environment in which they can adjust and succeed. We hear they're under a lot of pressure, but, with the contribution and services that the organization provides, we try to improve the situation of those businesses so they can succeed.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

All right. Thank you for telling us about the investments you make.

Since some witnesses say that we should support immigrants more and that the objective of this study is to make recommendations, do you think we need to increase the resources allocated to FedNor and FedDev Ontario, and to other economic development networks, if we want to provide better support for francophone newcomers?

[Linda Cousineau]

Thank you for your point of view, but I'll leave it to you to make recommendations. Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Joël Godin]

Ms. Ashton, you still have 1 minute and 10 seconds.

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

All right.

Mr. Fabiano, I'm going to ask you a question about investments and the work that FedNor has done with a number of indigenous communities in your region. Is more work also being done for francophone communities as neighbours and as regions, for example?

[Nick Fabiano]

Thank you for that question.

The answer, quite simply, is yes, because we find that the work we do with—

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Joël Godin]

There are 15 seconds left.

[Nick Fabiano]

Thanks to the work we do with first nations communities, their businesses benefit the entire region. A synergy has formed between the businesses and the minority language communities. All businesses in the regions have to cooperate extensively.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Joël Godin]

Thank you, Mr. Fabiano and Ms. Ashton.

We will now begin the second round, the “deuxième ronde”, of questions. Actually, I should say “deuxième tour” since, as our committee's work concerns the official languages, we should make an effort to speak proper French.

We will continue with Bernard Généreux, of the Conservative Party of Canada, who will have the floor for five minutes.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to the witnesses as well.

Mr. Fabiano and Ms. Cousineau, what kind of support do your two organizations provide under the economic development initiative? Is it just grants or also other types of contributions, such as loans and so on?

[Nick Fabiano]

Most of the funding allocated under the EDI isn't really granted as loans because the organizations we work with mostly receive grants and contributions.

If funding is allocated to a business whose aim is to make a profit, then, yes, it comes in the form of a loan, which will subsequently have to be repaid.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

I see.

Are you able to determine whether the contributions, repayable or not, that are made to official language minority communities are beneficial, that is to say, whether they actually have a positive impact?