Official Languages Committee on Feb. 1st, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

We will now resume.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3) and the motion adopted by the committee on September 20, 2023, the committee is meeting to continue its study on the economic development of official language minority communities.

I would like to welcome Martin Normand, who is the Director of Strategic Research and International Relations at the Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne.

Mr. Normand, we are glad to have you join us for this conversation. This isn't the first time you've attended a meeting of the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

You will have the floor for five minutes, after which we will go to the round of questions. I am very strict about speaking time.

[Martin Normand, Director, Strategic Research and International Relations, Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne]

Thank you.

It's obvious to us that the post-secondary sector plays a role in the Canadian economy, a fact that's particularly true of our 22 post-secondary educational institutions in the francophone communities, which often drive local economies because they are innovation hubs, dynamic employers, consumers of goods and services, magnets for public and private investment and calling cards both here at home and abroad.

You also have to consider the work they do in incubating business startups and the productivity gains associated with research projects established in local communities and businesses. Then there are the economic activity and revenue created by generations of graduates from our institutions.

Your committee is looking for best practices and economic models that it should follow, and post-secondary educational institutions have made an impressive contribution in that area. However, our institutional network aspires to expand its contributions to Canadian society by offering new programs that are tailored to changing socioeconomic realities by attracting and retaining the local francophone clientele and establishing spaces that will continue to drive innovation. Which is why, in recent years, we have repeatedly stated our network's expectation that permanent funding of $80 million a year be established to support the sector and enable it to continue growing.

Today, however, I would like to focus on a more urgent matter. On January 22, 2024 Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or IRCC, set a national intake cap on study permit applications for the next two years. The announcement came as a major shock to our institutional network as a whole.

We believe that the modernized Official Languages Act and the francophone immigration policy are promising new tools, provided they are complied with. However, that announcement has now brought us all, including this committee, to a first test of those federal tools and could reveal their limits.

This decision is a clear contradiction of the revised version of the francophone immigration policy that was announced on January 16, 2024. According to the policy's objectives, IRCC wishes to maximize the selection of foreign French-speaking students, enhance programs aimed at them and expand their access to francophone post-secondary educational institutions outside Quebec. The policy should constitute the backdrop against which every measure targeting the international clientele of post-secondary educational institutions is defined. However, the opposite appears to be the case.

As others have noted this week, the international clientele of post-secondary educational institutions plays a crucial role in the Canadian economy by injecting more than $22 billion into it every year. Based on various data sources, we estimate that the international clientele of member post-secondary educational institutions of the Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne, or ACUFC, generated an economic impact of more than $300 million in 2018–2019 alone.

That clientele meets a varied range of labour needs while they are studying, and they may acquire post-graduation work permits in order to add to their work experience in Canada. They may then decide to file an application to transition to permanent residency. According to a study conducted in 2020, nearly 90% of foreign students in our institutional network said they wanted to remain in Canada after graduation. This success clearly shows how IRCC should rely on our institutions to meet its new, more ambitious francophone immigration targets.

Study permit holders in our institutional network make up less than 2% of the total number of holders of study permits issued in Canada in 2022. That number is very low at the national level, but this clientele has a considerable impact at the community level. Which is why, for the moment, and given the emergency we face, we are making only one recommendation this morning.

We recommend that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada introduce measures to ensure that a national intake cap on study permit applications does not have an impact on the ability of post-secondary educational institutions in minority francophone communities to maintain and increase the number of foreign students, as the new version of the francophone immigration policy provides. For example, IRCC could designate the international clientele studying in French outside Quebec as a priority cohort, as it has previously done for other cohorts.

If we want (1) post-secondary educational institutions to retain an ability to influence the economic development of francophone communities and (2) the international clientele to feel they can contribute to the vitality of those communities, then the measure announced last week and intended to align with the other objectives of the federal government's public policy must be reviewed. This solution would be consistent with the spirit of the Official Languages Act and the francophone immigration policy and would enhance the impact that these two tools would have on the economic situation of francophone communities across the country.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you very much.

Each of the political parties will have six minutes of speaking time in the first round of questions. We will begin with the first vice-chair of this committee.

Mr. Godin, you have the floor for six minutes.

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

Mr. Normand, thank you for being with us this morning. It's a pleasure for us to meet you. It's good to have our witnesses in the room because that prevents technical issues.

Mr. Normand, I listened closely to your remarks this morning, and I see that the government is saying anything and everything. Its intentions are good, but IRCC's recent announcements run counter to the objectives we see, in particular, in Bill C-13. You said that IRCC had changed its policy; that's what was announced on January 22. Our understanding is that nothing has happened in the short term.

Here's my first question. What's important for you in the short term, and what could have an impact on economic development in the official language minority communities, the OLMCs?

[Martin Normand]

It's wrong to say that nothing has happened since January 22. The measure has been in place since the day it was announced. There's a moratorium on the processing of student permit applications right now. That could mean that some of our institutions may not have a cohort of foreign students registering for the spring term in May. Furthermore, if the provinces don't act quickly, that could also have an impact on the cohort arriving in September. Our institutions are very concerned right now. They don't think applications will be processed promptly enough for a cohort to attend the spring term, and that could have an impact on the September cohort.

The impact on our institutions is immediate. If some cohorts disappear, or if there's a significant decline in the number of foreign students this coming September, that also means there will be fewer graduates in two, three or four years who will remain in the country, apply for permanent residence and take part in the growth and vitality of francophone communities.

That will have an immediate impact on the institutions and a medium-term effect on our communities.

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

Thank you, Mr. Normand.

Considering what you just said, can we say that we'll be compromising the existence of francophone institutions outside Quebec if no change is made? Whether we like it or not, students who register generate revenue, and that revenue enables those institutions to survive.

Does the government's current policy mean we're sacrificing or eliminating francophone institutions in Canada?

[Martin Normand]

The institutions in our network have always proved that they are resilient, but the fact remains that, without necessarily resulting in the closure of an institution in the short term, a sudden and significant revenue loss could mean the elimination of positions, fewer programs, cuts to the number of spaces in programs and reduced services on campus.

We can't deny that it could very quickly have those consequences. We're talking about revenue declines of 35% to 50% at certain institutions. That's a significant portion of the annual budget that would disappear in a very short space of time.

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

What you're saying is that there's a risk for those institutions, which are also involved in the local economy. This has a significant impact on the local economy.

In that respect, these francophone minority regions are trying to survive. The current economic situation in Canada is not an enviable one.

What could we as a government do in the short term to preserve and safeguard the local economy? Are there any specific, quick measures that we should take?

[Martin Normand]

In our view, the first thing to do right off the bat is to make francophone students studying outside Quebec a priority cohort for the purposes of the measure announced last week.

You must understand that news such as this travels very quickly. In 24 to 48 hours, our foreign clientele know that measures will be introduced to limit the entry of international students to Canada. Students might therefore choose to study in other countries that are currently very competitive in the market. In the case of our institutions, we also have to consider Quebec. Mr. Miller clearly said that the province was currently under the cap that it set in this regard.

So we're afraid that francophone students who were considering studying outside Quebec may assume it will be virtually impossible to get a study permit and then decide to study in Quebec. That's a whole potential labour pool that could disappear.

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

What you're in fact telling us is that there's a risk that all the upstream work that has been done for many years could be lost.

[Martin Normand]

That's exactly it.

Our institutional network has been actively involved in recruiting foreign students for 10 or 15 years. We've made giant strides, and that work must not be wasted.

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

It's a very competitive sector, as we all know.

The Liberals announced during the election campaign that they would invest $80 million a year in the action plan for official languages, the APOL. However, according to the announcement made in March 2023, if I'm not mistaken, it would more likely be $30 million a year.

Have you received that $30 million?

[Martin Normand]

As we all know, negotiations are under way with the provinces to renew the minority language education agreements.

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

Have you received that $30 million?

As I mentioned, an amount of $30 million appears to be earmarked for the institutions in the action plan for official languages.

[Martin Normand]

That funding will be released on April 1 of this year.

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

As I understand it, you haven't received that funding yet, but you don't mind the wait.

Is that correct?

[Martin Normand]

We hope that's resolved soon.

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

We'll come back to that.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, René Arseneault]

Thank you very much, Mr. Normand and Mr. Godin.

The next question comes from the Liberals. Mr. Iacono, you have the floor for six minutes.

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Good morning, Mr. Normand.

What are the main obstacles that your member institutions are encountering, and what steps are you taking to resolve them?

[Martin Normand]

There are challenges in many sectors. Are you thinking of any specific sectors?

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Tell me about the three biggest obstacles.

[Martin Normand]

Public funding is obviously the first. The discussion about international students is part of that. Many institutions have turned to us because the percentage of public funding intended for post-secondary education in Canada has been declining for some time. The revenue structure has to be reviewed to ensure that the institutions can carry out their mandates.

For our institutions, there's also—

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Have you consulted the provinces about funding? This is a provincial jurisdiction after all.

[Martin Normand]

The ACUFC doesn't have a mandate to negotiate or talk to the provinces. Our members do so directly. I assure you that all our members are in direct and frequent contact with the department concerned with teaching and higher education in their provinces.