Official Languages committee  It can definitely have an impact on local businesses. People have told us that, without the contribution of foreign students at some of our institutions in rural or remote communities, they would be forced to shut down as a result of a labour shortage. So the risks aren't limited to the institutions alone.

Official Languages committee  The number we often hear, the one we've previously seen circulating, is the number of graduates from francophone secondary schools in the country—I'm excluding immersion schools here—who then enrol at francophone post-secondary educational institutions in Canada. That number has declined to approximately 50%, for all kinds of reasons.

Official Languages committee  That's our 22 member institutions.

Official Languages committee  According to certain data tables prepared by Statistics Canada, that percentage does take immersion schools into account. However, the figure I can give you is the one concerning institutions managed by and for francophones from kindergarten to grade 12.

Official Languages committee  We still use them in co-operation with the Association francophone pour le savoir, or Acfas.

Official Languages committee  You're absolutely right. There are a lot of foreign student success stories. They came to Canada as foreign students, passed through our institutions, now occupy senior positions in the communities and are leaders of their francophone communities. That's why I'm telling you that, if the number of foreign students falls sharply when classes resume in May or September, that will mean that many fewer graduates may be applying for permanent residence in Canada in two or three years.

Official Languages committee  We would like IRCC to consider francophones who wish to study outside Quebec as a priority cohort, as is the case of students at the master's and doctoral levels.

Official Languages committee  It hasn't been the same trajectory; I can guarantee you that. There were 5,000 study permits before the pandemic. In September 2022, there were 5,000 new study permits for our institutional network. However, it's impossible to confirm that 5,000 foreign students wound up at our colleges and universities.

Official Languages committee  As I said earlier, ACUFC has no relations with the provinces, but our institutions have been in direct contact with Ontario's provincial authorities in recent days to discuss their concerns and to pass on the message that we're giving you today. Francophones should be part of a priority cohort and they should not be subject to the established cap.

Official Languages committee  We've been less active on that front. Our colleges have already discussed this with their provincial governments. They know that some actors are tarnishing the colleges' international reputations. Although we've done less—because we choose our battles—Colleges and Institutes Canada, for example, our national anglophone and francophone counterpart representing the entire college sector, has done a lot of work on the issue to develop measures to deal with those kinds of recalcitrant institutions that undermine Canada's reputation.

Official Languages committee  As I stated in my remarks, based on certain numbers, we can estimate that, in 2018-2019, the economic impact of foreign students amounted to $300 million at our institutions alone. That seems like an enormous number, but it actually amounts to approximately $60,000 per foreign student.

Official Languages committee  No, it includes tuition fees and housing expenses, but also the kind of spending generated by the presence of foreign students at our institutions, housing and private businesses. Since we estimate the impact at $300 million for 2018-2019, we may assume that it's a bit higher than that since minor growth has been observed in more recent years.

Official Languages committee  It was $300 million in 2018-2019.

Official Languages committee  I was alluding to a promise that was made in the Liberal Party's platform in 2021 that there would be a permanent support fund of $80 million a year for the post-secondary education sector. We expected it to make good on that promise in the 2022 budget, but that didn't happen. We expected it to appear in the action plan for official languages 2023-2028, and provision is made in the action plan for a support fund of $121 million over four years, but we're now at $30 million rather than $80 million, and that's temporary rather than permanent.

Official Languages committee  I believe inflation is everywhere. It affects our wallets as much as those of the post-secondary educational institutions, which have to take inflation into consideration in planning their budgets from year to year. I must say it's been significant in recent years, but it's levelling off now.