Evidence of meeting #4 for Official Languages in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was asselin.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
October 9th, 2025 / 11:45 a.m.
Conservative
Marc Dalton Conservative Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
Good morning.
I want to thank the witnesses for joining us today.
Do francophone parents know their rights when it comes to their children's education? Do they know that their children can attend a francophone school?
How do you reach out to francophone parents who come to the province, before their children start kindergarten?
I would first like to ask Mr. Dion to answer my question. Ms. Asselin can chime in afterwards.
Chair, Association locale des enseignantes et des enseignants fransaskois
I'm not entirely sure about the administrative procedures for communicating with francophone parents. You must understand that the francophone community in Saskatchewan is quite small. People know each other fairly well and they speak to each other. The community is well aware of the right to French‑language education. This isn't an issue.
Now for the last question.
It's quite rare to have the opportunity to open a francophone school in Saskatchewan without first filing a class action lawsuit against the province. This is one reason why many francophones don't have access to French‑language education. It takes a great deal of determination, time and energy to take legal action to push for a school for our community.
Conservative
Executive Director, Fédération des parents francophones de Colombie-Britannique
Our network of members includes all the parent associations from schools in the Confédération syndicale des familles, or CSF, and also all parent‑run preschools. We have strong ties to the entire early childhood education network in British Columbia. This gives us the chance to meet with parents before their children are enroled in school.
Given the high percentage of people who come from outside our province and our country to join our francophone community, clearly we need to reach out on an almost daily basis to parents and francophones who move to British Columbia. I would say that newcomers are perhaps a bit less aware of the constitutional rights to education granted to francophone parents.
All the organizations involved in raising awareness receive support from the school board's Fédération des parents francophones. That way, francophones can send their children to French schools and francophone day care centres in order to integrate into the francophone community. It takes a whole community, not just schools or day care centres, to ensure language transmission and the vitality of our communities.
Conservative
Marc Dalton Conservative Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
Thank you.
Ms. Asselin, could you comment on the impact of immigration on student enrolment?
On the graph provided by the library, I don't see a significant increase in the number of students in francophone schools in British Columbia over the past 30 years.
Is this correct, or is there a misprint?
Executive Director, Fédération des parents francophones de Colombie-Britannique
I'll answer the last question and then come back to the first one.
Since the creation of the francophone school board, the number of students has increased. However, over the past two or three years, there has been a slight decline. All francophone and anglophone school boards in British Columbia have seen this decline. It isn't just happening on the francophone side.
Regarding your first question, our francophone community has expanded and is growing rapidly. It's one of Canada's burgeoning francophone communities. This growth is largely the result of immigration. In general, British Columbia has a large immigrant population, which is also reflected in the francophone community and which greatly enriches our community.
Conservative
Marc Dalton Conservative Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
Do you see a decline when francophone elementary school students move on to secondary school?
Do these students continue their education in a francophone school or an immersion program?
Liberal
Executive Director, Fédération des parents francophones de Colombie-Britannique
This transition always poses a challenge. However, when the francophone school is new and it includes science labs, for example, and a nice gym, we see a drop in the exodus of young francophones to anglophone schools.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Yvan Baker
Thank you, Mr. Dalton.
We'll now give the floor to Mr. Villeneuve for five minutes.
Liberal
Louis Villeneuve Liberal Brome—Missisquoi, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My question is for the officials from the Réseau pour le développement de l'alphabétisme et des compétences, or RESDAC.
I think that Ms. Asselin will answer it, since Mr. Leclerc can't speak to us.
Your organization works to strengthen essential skills and literacy in francophone minority communities.
Could you start by briefly describing the scope of your programs and the areas with the greatest demand?
Chair, Réseau pour le développement de l'alphabétisme et des compétences
I can answer that question, Mr. Chair.
Liberal
Chair, Réseau pour le développement de l'alphabétisme et des compétences
The Réseau pour le développement de l'alphabétisme et des compétences, or RESDAC, is a national network. It mainly supports its members in every province and territory across the country. This means that we have close ties to communities.
To answer your question, I would say that it's difficult to identify the specific needs of areas given our issues with accessing data. We know that there are major international studies, such as the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, or PIAAC. In 2012, as part of this initiative, the federal government requested a francophone sample. This gave us the opportunity to compare the needs of francophone populations with the needs of anglophone populations.
Unfortunately, when the survey was updated here in 2024, this request wasn't made. This poses a major issue when it comes to identifying the needs of francophone populations in certain areas, since we don't have the data. RESDAC is in the process of developing its own tools to obtain this data and identify these needs.
Liberal
Louis Villeneuve Liberal Brome—Missisquoi, QC
Thank you.
On a broader scale, are there other places in Canada where certain needs remain unmet?
Chair, Réseau pour le développement de l'alphabétisme et des compétences
Yes. Unfortunately, there are needs across Canada, not just in certain areas. All RESDAC members have specific needs. That's where the network comes in. It supports its members in order to meet community needs.
Liberal
Liberal
Chair, Réseau pour le développement de l'alphabétisme et des compétences
Our director would like to make a comment, if you don't mind.
Executive Director, Réseau pour le développement de l'alphabétisme et des compétences
Good morning.
I simply wanted to point out that the needs of francophone minority communities in Canada are enormous. Our chair didn't mention this, but in 2012, [Technical difficulty—Editor] percent of the francophone population in Canada fell below the PIAAC's level 3, which is the level required to thrive socially and economically. The average is 52%, and in some provinces, the figure is close to 70% in certain areas. The needs are considerable.
Yet, on the ground, only one organization meets the needs of francophone minority communities in all provinces and territories. These people are doing everything they can. We're talking about just one skill here, which is literacy. If we consider all the skills and compare ourselves to the majority, the figure stands at billions of dollars invested [Technical difficulty—Editor]—
