Official Languages Committee on Nov. 4th, 2025

Evidence of meeting #8 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 federal.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

Minority-Language Education Continuum

Members speaking

Guillaume Deschênes-Thériault

Before the committee

Williamson Executive Director, La Société de la garderie le Petit Voilier

Morrow Social Entrepreneur, As an Individual

Power Lawyer, As an Individual

Bossé Lawyer, Power Law, As an Individual

11 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Yvan Baker

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number eight of the Standing Committee on Official Languages.

Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. All comments should be addressed through the chair. I would like to ask the committee members to raise their hands if they wish to speak. If they're joining us remotely, they can do so by using the “Raise Hand” feature in the Zoom application. The committee clerk and I will manage the speaking order as best we can.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(f) and the motion adopted by the committee on September 25, 2025, we're meeting today to resume our study on the minority‑language education continuum.

I would now like to welcome the witnesses participating in the first hour of the meeting.

We're joined by Jane Williamson, executive director of La Société de la garderie le Petit Voilier. She is participating in the meeting by video conference.

Welcome, Ms. Williamson.

We're also joined by Justin Morrow, social entrepreneur. He is participating in the meeting in person and as an individual.

Welcome, Mr. Morrow.

You'll each have five minutes for your opening remarks. We'll then move on to the question and answer portion with the committee members.

Ms. Williamson, you have the floor for five minutes.

11 a.m.

Jane Williamson Executive Director, La Société de la garderie le Petit Voilier

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We would like to draw your attention to a crucial issue for the future of language education in minority communities. It concerns the need to preserve the uniqueness of French‑language learning in Nova Scotia, from early childhood through to post‑secondary education.

The education continuum in minority communities is crucial for learning and mastering French. At this time, to ensure the linguistic success and identity development of our young people, we clearly need a consistent approach starting in early childhood.

The reality of assimilation remains a concern in francophone minority communities, particularly in early childhood. According to Statistics Canada data, nearly 25,000 children in Nova Scotia were eligible for French‑language education. Yet, in 2023‑24, only 6,763 children attended a school run by the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial, or CSAP. This means one in four children. This discrepancy shows the urgent need to take action starting in early childhood to ensure educational continuity.

Accessing and attending francophone early childhood centres encourages a natural transition to enrolment in a CSAP school. This keeps children on track with their French‑language education. Early childhood centres must receive full recognition as francophone educational institutions, alongside CSAP schools and Université Sainte‑Anne.

In June 2021, the Nova Scotia and Canadian governments reached an agreement on early learning and child care, which included a commitment to create 9,500 spaces.

On the heels of this agreement, the province launched a major reform of the system to create a single provincial entity encompassing all licensed English‑language and French‑language centres.

We submitted a proposal to the province to create a separate francophone entity to support Acadian and francophone child care services. So far, this funding request has been denied.

For over 25 years, La Société de la garderie le Petit Voilier and its partners have maintained a strong partnership with CSAP. This has helped us provide high‑quality, inclusive and affordable French‑language child care services.

Our province currently has 16 early childhood centres and a home‑based agency that employs over 150 staff. We provide educational services to over 470 children in the Halifax metropolitan area and 310 children in rural areas. Two expansion projects are under way to add 42 spaces in urban areas and 40 spaces in rural areas by September 2026.

The lack of francophone spaces not only compromises access to child care services, it also compromises linguistic continuity, the retention of francophone families and CSAP's ability to fulfill its mandate.

The reform plans to give families access to child care services at an average cost of $10 per day by March 2026.

We believe that all Acadian and francophone families should have access to French‑language educational services starting in early childhood, alongside French‑language education in school.

However, the current funding model doesn't allow for the development of not‑for‑profit centres. Child care fees have been frozen since 2018. No funding is provided to cover administrative costs or facility improvements.

As a result of the action plan for official languages 2023‑28, we can finally build a francophone early childhood support network designed by and for our Acadian and francophone communities.

This network will provide shared expertise in administrative and financial management, in inclusion and in staff recruitment and retention. It will focus on building the capacities of our centres, lightening the load on centre management and ensuring stable, inclusive and sustainable French‑language educational environments for every child.

What will happen to these financial commitments and the progress made after March 31, 2028?

The sustainable development of French‑language child care and education services in Nova Scotia faces many challenges. These include a shortage of qualified French‑speaking staff, particularly in rural areas; high turnover rates; limited access to continuing education in French; a lack of official recognition of francophone early childhood centres; and structural underfunding that fails to take into account the additional costs associated with materials, translation, centre administration and language support.

These challenges are compounded by growing pressure from waiting lists, the geographic dispersion of francophone families and a lack of recognition of the educational role played by home‑based services. Yet these services are vital in underserved areas.

To ensure a comprehensive and consistent French‑language education continuum, we recommend that francophone early childhood centres constitute the first step in the French‑language educational path and that they receive full recognition from the government accordingly.

We also recommend establishing a separate governance entity for early childhood services, run by and for francophones in Nova Scotia.

We recommend a differentiated, sustainable and tailored funding model to ensure that French‑language services remain viable after March 31, 2028, along with initial training and professional development in French.

In conclusion, preserving the uniqueness of French‑language learning in Nova Scotia and ensuring educational continuity from early childhood services through to post‑secondary education isn't a symbolic gesture. It's a commitment to equity, linguistic vitality and the future of our communities. By fully recognizing early childhood as the first stage in the education continuum, Canada is both protecting charter rights and investing in the success, pride and longevity of future Acadian and francophone generations.

Thank you.

11:05 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Yvan Baker

Thank you, Ms. Williamson.

I'll now give the floor to Mr. Morrow for five minutes.

11:05 a.m.

Justin Morrow Social Entrepreneur, As an Individual

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Chair and committee members, thank you for the opportunity to discuss the minority‑language education continuum.

My name is Justin Morrow. I'm a social entrepreneur and advocate for French as a second language, or FSL, education. My expertise focuses on FSL programming and post‑secondary transitions. However, for this study, I've expanded my scope to include francophone students in minority communities. Both populations face the same lack of infrastructure at the post‑secondary level.

I would like to tell you the story of three students. These three avatars represent nearly two million young Canadians who study French or in French across the country.

I'll start by introducing Marie, who represents more than 290,000 rights holders who attend or who have attended a minority francophone school. Grayson represents 450,000 French immersion students. Priya represents 1.29 million core French students.

Now, let's follow these avatars through to high school graduation, when they step into their own life and begin making economic decisions about their future.

Marie, our francophone rights holder, faces a difficult choice. As you have already heard from witnesses, some of her peers leave the French system as early as grade 7 to prepare for post‑secondary studies in English. The programs that they want don't exist in French‑language institutions. These students could maintain strong proficiency in both languages. However, without structured support at English universities, we can't really track whether they do so or whether they contribute to their local francophone communities after graduation.

Grayson, our French immersion student, faces a preventable crisis. The 2021 census revealed that 48.6% of his peers lose their conversational proficiency within five years of graduation. They don't lack motivation, but they have almost no opportunities to maintain their French during post‑secondary studies. The irony is that, while they're losing their French, 63,000 Canadian businesses were desperately seeking bilingual employees in the third quarter of 2022.

Priya, our core French student, faces even bleaker prospects. We don't have data on the retention rates. However, with much less intensive French instruction, her chances of achieving French proficiency are almost zero without structured support.

Here's what should concern this committee. Marie is almost guaranteed to become perfectly bilingual and able to contribute to the vitality of francophone communities. However, what about Grayson and Priya? Even though the federal government invested more than $178 million in FSL education in 2023‑24, only a small fraction of students will be bilingual five years later. An even smaller fraction will contribute to the vitality of their local francophone communities.

It doesn't have to be this way.

During his post‑secondary education, we measured only once—during the 2021 census—the retention rate of Grayson, the French immersion student. This means once in the entire history of his FSL education. This makes the $178 million invested in FSL education look like a social expense. It's money that we spend to show that English Canada values French, without any expectation of return.

Yet if we regularly measured retention rates and tracked these students into the labour market, we could measure the economic impact of the money invested. It then becomes a capital investment creating skilled employees for the Canadian economy with measurable returns.

So, how do we optimize this federal support? We can do so in two ways, both achievable by reallocating the $32.7 million that the federal government already allocates to post‑secondary FSL programming alone. First, we must regularly measure the level of language retention from graduation through to the labour market. We must do this not every five years, but systematically. Second, we need extracurricular post‑secondary support programs that meet students where they are. These programs must offer language development and connections with francophone communities. This is essential. We need this support infrastructure in all post‑secondary institutions, both French‑language and English‑language, inside and outside Quebec.

The question is simple. Will we continue to treat French education as a social expense, or will we transform it into a capital investment with a measurable return?

11:10 a.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Yvan Baker

Thank you, Mr. Morrow.

We'll now move on to questions from members.

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

11:10 a.m.

Conservative

Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank the witnesses for joining us this morning.

Mr. Morrow, it's music to our ears to hear that you have an investment philosophy rather than a spending philosophy. Could we say that the government is currently engaging in window dressing by sprinkling money around without any accountability and without assessing the positive impact that would keep the French language going and growing? It's one of the two official languages, but it's the most vulnerable.

11:10 a.m.

Social Entrepreneur, As an Individual

Justin Morrow

The government does carry out assessments. The government is there to ensure the proper management of funds. However, I think that this is just about a lack of priorities and the wrong focus. This isn't anyone's fault in particular. It isn't the government's fault either. When I appeared before the committee 12 years ago, the situation was the same. In my opinion, the government as a whole is responsible, not any particular party.