Official Languages Committee on Feb. 28th, 2022

[Corinne Prince]

Mr. Chair, I would like the member to remind us of the context in which the Commissioner of Official Languages mentioned 75,000 people.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Perhaps you could answer my question later. I will now move on to another question.

The media have been reporting that immigration applications from francophone Africans had been refused. We have discussed this topic already.

Is there a structural problem at the Department of Citizenship and Immigration?

How are you going to resolve the African immigrants problem?

[Corinne Prince]

Thank you for the question, Mr. Dalton.

I'll let Ms. Kingsley answer this one.

[Michèle Kingsley]

As I said earlier, there are many reasons why a study permit for someone from Africa might be refused. We take allegations of unconscious prejudice very seriously. Decision-makers are given very specific training in order to be able to determine whether the presence of unconscious prejudices has influenced decisions. We also look at ways that might lead to enhanced diversity in the applications approved.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Thank you very much.

[Michèle Kingsley]

We are trying to see…

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

I don't want to be rude, but I have more than one question to ask and there's not much time available to me.

I'd like to talk about British Columbia, where I am a member of Parliament.

In the report entitled “English and French: Towards a substantive equality of official languages in Canada,” it was established that immigration was a priority for the development of francophone minority communities.

Can you tell us how many francophone immigrants were admitted to Canada, and more specifically in British Columbia, over the past five years? Do you have these figures at hand, or could you have them sent to us?

[Corinne Prince]

No, I don't have the figures for the number of francophone immigrants admitted to British Columbia over the past five years at hand.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Thank you very much.

Each province has a 4.4% target to meet for francophone immigration, with a view to enhancing the vitality of the French language everywhere in Canada. That's very important. I'm looking…

[Corinne Prince]

We can send you…

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Okay, thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Joël Godin]

Thank you, Mr. Dalton.

Ms. Prince, I think you were on the point of telling us that you were going to have this information sent to the clerk.

[Corinne Prince]

That's right.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Joël Godin]

Thank you.

I am now going to move on to your colleague, Mr. Serré, for five minutes.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to the witnesses with us today.

My question is for you, Ms. Prince. I would like a yes or no answer.

Can you inform the committee about the number of francophones, by province, that have immigrated to Canada since 2003? The targets have never been met.

Can you, yes or no, provide us with this information?

I see that your answer is affirmative. All we want is for you to send us a table.

[Corinne Prince]

Yes, we can do that.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Okay.

Could you send us a table showing the number of employees at the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, by year since 2003, as well as the number of newcomers? There were 400,000 last year, a record.

I am asking for statistics by province on the number of employees by year since 2003, and the number of newcomers to Canada.

I see that you are nodding. Thank you.

My next question is non-partisan. In fact, I think that our committee functions extremely well. When we talk about targets since 2003, we are talking about targets over a 20‑year period. This year, we have a Liberal government. Before that it was another party, and the targets were never met. My question is therefore not really partisan.

I would like to have statistics on francophones by province. Based on the provincial applicant programs, there were 7,600 newcomers in Ontario, very few of whom were francophone.

Ms. Prince, you began your presentation by saying that immigration was a shared federal-provincial jurisdiction. What would the federal government and the provinces have to do to reach these numbers?

There are 400,000 newcomers, but very few francophones. How is the jurisdiction shared between the federal government and the provinces? I know that in Ontario, there are very few francophone newcomers. Is it the role of the province or the federal government? Is it a shared role?

Could you come up with any recommendations or solutions for us?

[Corinne Prince]

As the member has indicated, immigration is a shared jurisdiction to achieve not only the federal target of 4.4% by 2023...and at least five provinces and territories also have provincial targets. The Province of Ontario has a 5% target.

I mentioned earlier in this committee that the best way to bring in francophone newcomers is through economic programs. That is not only the federal economic program but also the provincial nominee program that the member mentioned. The Province of Ontario has prioritized francophone immigration and added several PNP streams with a view to attaining the 5% target for the province.

As the member noted as well, we have not yet—and we still have more than 18 months to go—reached the 4.4% target federally, but we work in close collaboration with our provincial and territorial partners.

In fact, in 2018 we created a federal, provincial, and territorial action plan to try to find the best way to work collaboratively and to ensure that we were using our missions overseas to promote francophone immigration to source countries.

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Ms. Prince, could you tell us, in 30 seconds, about coordination with the province?

Our committee is indeed looking for solutions. So if there is a coordination table with the province, it's not only the federal government that plays a role.

Can you tell us about any recommendations made by this table, or any joint efforts by the two levels of government?

[Corinne Prince]

As I previously mentioned, we developed an action plan with the provinces and territories, and we can send a copy of it to the committee as the work proceeds.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Joël Godin]

Thank you Ms. Prince and Mr. Serré.

I'm going to invoke my privilege as chair to ask two questions.

My question is for Ms. Kingsley. Earlier, you said that the applications submitted by African students were individual applications. I'd like to know whether it might be possible to provide coaching to those submitting these applications from individuals who, I infer, appear to be completing them badly.

In fact, many individual applications have been refused. Could the problem be attributable to how difficult it is to complete these applications properly and answer the questions appropriately? Should there be some promotion to provide support to these African applicants, because they represent a large pool of francophone immigrants? I think this might be an option worth exploring to solve the problem and ensure that more francophone immigrants come to Canada.

[Michèle Kingsley]

Thank you for that question.

The applications are in fact individual, but then so is each review. Every single application is evaluated separately. We do some coaching and awareness training abroad to ensure that the applications are properly completed by our clients.

I'll give the floor to Ms. Hiles, who can provide more details about this.

[Alexandra Hiles]

Absolutely.

I would point out that you are quite right. There is work to do on promotion and recruitment and counselling applicants in how to submit their completed applications. In 2021, for example, we had 20 webinars where we took time to meet with students and explain the requirements to be issued a study permit to Canada, the common reasons for refusal and how to successfully complete an application.

Thank you for the excellent question. As Madam Kingsley mentioned, we are putting a fair amount of effort towards that.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Joël Godin]

Thank you, Ms. Hiles.

Mr. Beaulieu has a point of order.

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

As there are still five minutes left, are we going to continue asking questions to the very end?