Thank you.
The Association des collèges et universités de la francophonie canadienne, or ACUFC, brings together the 22 francophone or bilingual post-secondary institutions in a francophone minority setting. Its mandate is to represent the collective interests of our members to federal institutions to improve access to post-secondary education in French. Today, I will provide you with three elements to consider in your work. They are rooted in the particular situation of post-secondary institutions in francophone minority settings.
First, according to the 2018 national graduates survey, the average student debt at graduation for those studying exclusively in French outside of Quebec is $35,000. That's $4,000 more than those studying exclusively in English. A study in Quebec noted that an individual's level of debt may cause them to postpone or drop out of graduate studies. Given that the average debt load is higher among francophones, they may be at greater risk of postponing or dropping out of graduate studies should they have inadequate financial support. Add to this the fact that we have very few French-language graduate programs outside of Quebec, and an individual might face higher costs if they need to move away from their home community.
In the context where we are in dire need of a new generation of researchers to advance knowledge on the issues facing francophone minority communities, scholarships with more adequate and competitive dollar amounts become an essential tool.
Second, graduate students often rely on access to supplemental income to bring up their revenue. However, access to supplemental income is reduced at smaller institutions in francophone minority settings. Smaller post-secondary institutions, as well as researchers, are generally less likely to win research grant agency competitions due to institutional and language bias on review committees.
For example, one study once assessed that smaller universities were less likely to receive federal funding. You have already conducted a study on French-language research and are well aware of the barriers the French-language research community faces in obtaining funding. As a result, institutions and researchers have fewer opportunities to offer graduate students, like teaching assistant positions or research contracts. Again, in the absence of more adequate fellowships, the gap in access to graduate education is widening between mainstream and smaller francophone institutions.
Third, this context reinforces institutional bias. It's harder for researchers in our network of institutions to find graduate students to conduct their funded research mandates, sometimes their peer reviewers sometimes blame on them. Without research grants, researchers, especially early career researchers, are confined to teaching duties and are unable to attract and retain graduate students or develop a competitive research record. More adequate scholarships would help smaller institutions to compete and grow the research culture at their institution.
I will finish with three recommendations.
First, much like other witnesses, we recommend increasing the value of graduate and postdoctoral fellowships to make them competitive, and then indexing them to preserve the allure of pursuing graduate studies.
Next, we recommend that granting agencies adjust their programs so that researchers can also provide increased financial support and more competitive salaries for student researchers and postdoctoral fellows, and educate stakeholders so that institutional policies reflect this desire to take action.
Finally, federal institutions are already required to take positive measures to enhance the development and vitality of francophone minority communities. If Bill C‑13 to modernize the Official Languages Act passes, this obligation will be reinforced, particularly with respect to post-secondary education. Federal institutions will have to implement meaningful and positive measures to have a positive impact on francophone minorities, in particular to support the generation and dissemination of information in French that contributes to advancing scientific knowledge. Federal institutions will also be required to establish assessment and monitoring mechanisms relating to the positive measures.
Therefore, we recommend that Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and the granting agencies, in consultation with stakeholders in francophone minority settings, implement new meaningful positive measures to promote access to graduate studies for individuals from francophone minority communities to support the research community in those settings.
The measures must be part of the government's commitment to help the post-secondary sector in minority settings move toward substantive equality with their counterpart in majority settings. This could result in programs tailored to the realities of these communities.
Thank you.